Tax Return Question?

Question

Can a parent(who is the rep.payee) of her 24 disabled daughter's monthly SSI check, claim her as a dependant and/or recieve exemptions, even if she doesn't live with the parent?
What are the guidelines for claiming someone with a disability as a dependant?
I also wanted to ask this same question only regarding the boyfriend of the disabled daughter. Can he claim her as his dependant and/or recieve exemptions for her, if shes been living with him for over a year and hes helping to pay for her expenses?

Please reply if you know the answer or have any helpful advice besides restating the tax guidelines. Thankyou.

Answer 1

Since the daughter did not live with you for more than six months, she cannot be your "qualifying child." The only possibility for her to be your dependent is as a "qualifying relative." In this category of dependent, disability is not a factor.

In order for your daughter to be your qualifying relative, she must:

1. Have less than $3,300 of taxable income, and

2. You must have provided over half of her support.

Your daughter's SSI is not taxable income, but it is considered support provided by Social Security. Your daughter does not have $3,300 of taxable income, so the first condition is met.

The SSI is not considered support provided by you even though you receive the check on her behalf. If you have provided over 50% of her support from your own funds, then you could claim her as a dependent.

As for the boyfriend, he could claim her as a dependent if

1. Her taxable income is less than $3,300 (which it is), and
2. He lived with her all year (which he did), and
3. He provided over half of her support.

If he is paying over half her expenses, then he could claim her as a "qualifying relative" even though he is not related to her.

It may be the case that no one is providing over half the daughter's support, but together you and the boyfriend are providing over half of her support, with each providing at least 10%. In that case, the correct way to handle this is to fill out Form 2120 Multiple Support Agreement and have one of you take the exemption.

Answer 2

If your daughter is completely and totally disabled she may still qualify as your dependent for tax purposes. As long as you provide more than half of her support AND SHE LIVES WITH YOU you can claim her as your qualifying child. Since she is not living with you, she is not your qualifying child, however.

Since she is not your "qualifying child" she may be your "qualifying relative." You must provide more than half of her support and she must have less than $3,300 in gross income for the year. The non-taxable SSI does not count towards the $3,300 but it may count towards her support depending upon what it's used for. She is in the group of persons who do not need to live with you to be your "qualifying relative" so if you meet the support test and income tests above you can claim her as your dependent.

Now, as to the boyfriend. He might be able to claim her as his "qualifying relative" as well if the support and income tests are met AND if she lived with him for the ENTIRE year AND their relationship is not illegal under local law. Since only one of you can meet the support test you'll need to crunch some numbers with him to determine which one of you gets the dependency exemption.

Should both of you claim her as a dependent, the IRS will flag both returns for review. You'll both be asked to either file an emended return without the exemption claim or to provide documentary evidence of your claim. The IRS will use that evidence to determine who gets the exemption. This will delay both of your tax returns' processing and the issue of any refunds so it's in your best interest to work this out in advance before either of you file your tax returns.

Answer 3

Is your mom providing more than half of your support? If yes, she can claim you. I don't see how she can claim your bf since he is not a relative to her.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf

SSI is not considered as gross income so the $3,300 rule does not count.