I just got married a few months ago..but I'm still going to college. My mom is the one who pays for my tuition & most of my bills. I know tax season is coming around and I wanted to know can she still declare me as her dependent since we live with her??
I know...y get married when ur mom still maintains u..but that was the only way my mom would agree with my allowing my boyfriend to sleep over and all that stuff...so will this affect her taxes??
2007-11-20 13:48:51 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
If you file a joint return with your spouse, and either of you would have owed tax on separate returns, then your mother cannot claim you as a dependent.
If you do not file a joint return with your spouse, and you satisfy all the requirements to be your mother's dependent, then she may claim you as a dependent.
If your spouse is required to file a tax return and owes taxes, then it will be necessary for him to file a separate return if you are going to be able to be a dependent on your mother's return. In this case you would file a separate return as well, but not claim yourself.
If your mother is able to claim you as a dependent, she may still be able to file as Head of Household based on your dependency relationship. So the result would be that her taxes would appear the same as last year, all other factors being the same.
If your mother is not able to claim you as a dependent, then even though she supported you and you are living with her, she will not be able to file as Head of Household. This together with the loss of your exemption would increase her taxes.
The IRS description of this appears in Pub 501 page 9.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf
2007-11-21 03:28:46 · answer #1 · answered by ninasgramma 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Generally no, she can not. There is one very specific circumstance where she can.
First off, you must qualify as a dependent under the usual rules, i.e age, full time student status, residency, support, etc.
Then you must NOT file a joint return with your husband, unless you would have both had ZERO tax liability on separate returns and the ONLY reason you filed a joint return was to receive a refund of ALL income taxes withheld. If your husband has ANY taxable income at all, he MUST file as Married Filing Separately for your mother to claim you. Even if you are entitled to a full refund on a joint return, both of you must have zero liability on separate returns as well, as mentioned above.
If you don't meet this criteria then your mother cannot claim you as a dependent. And you cannot "allow" her to do so if you don't meet the criteria.
If you do meet the criteria you should figure the total tax liability with you and your husband filing Married Filing Separately and you mother claiming you and you and your husband filing Married Filing Jointly and your mother not claiming you. If your husband has significant income it will probably be best for you to file a joint return and your mother not claim you.
2007-11-20 14:05:37 · answer #2 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you do NOT file a joint return with your husband, then yes she can claim you if you meet all the other requirements, and it sounds like you probably do.
2007-11-20 14:23:17 · answer #3 · answered by Judy 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I agree with bostonianinmo...
2007-11-20 14:09:43 · answer #4 · answered by redstar97 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually, yes she can claim you this year...but you have to agree to it. If she tries to claim you and you claim yourself, then no.
Hope this helps.
2007-11-20 13:56:01 · answer #5 · answered by E.T. Barton 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋