Can someone else claim me on their taxes?

Question

I have lived with the same person for over 10 years..... we are not married... but in the past few years I have been starting my own business and this year it has been really difficult..... not much profit. would it be in my best interest to claim myself or can/should I let the person that I live with claim me.

Answer 1

They can only claim you if you meet all of the following requirements.

1. You lived with them for the entire tax year.

2. Your relationship is not illegal under local law. Any law that prohibits co-habitation, even if unenforced, bars the dependency exemption.

3. The person must have provided more than half of your total support for the entire year.

4. You must not have had more than $3,300 in gross income from all sources. (Your total business receipts must be counted towards the $3,300 gross income test, NOT the net profits.)

5. You are not the "qualifying child" of another taxpayer.

6. You do not file a joint return with another taxpayer.

Answer 2

You're much better off, taxwise, if you claim yourself and not if you are a dependent of another.

However, if the other person is providing more than one half of your support,
that person is legally entitled to claim you as their dependent.

What you lose by being claimed as someone else's dependent is the loss
of a personal exemption and also the loss of a standard deduction.

If you start making money, as an alternative, pay the other person their tax benefit of claiming you as their dependent - by taking the personal exemption and multiplying by their marginal tax rate. At least then they have been paid their tax benefit in advance. Then they will allow you to claim yourself.

Answer 3

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf
page 28 of the pdf explains what a dependent is and how one may or may not be claimed.
If you aren't disabled I would say do your own tax return...


good luck & bless