Can I claim my cousin kids as dependents on my 2007 taxes? My cousin is married but had a love affair with another woman for 7 years. He had two kids by this woman. His wife didn’t know anything about it. The other women died a year and a half ago. My cousin brought his kids over to his mom’s house to hide them out until he could break the news to his wife. For what ever reason he didn’t want his kids over at his moms house anymore so he asked me if they could stay at my house for a few months until he got this whole thing sorted out. He told his wife but she doesn’t want anything to do with the two kids. The two kids have been at my house since October 2006. My cousin lost his job in November 2006 and can’t seem to find a new job. My cousin lives with his wife and his two kids from the other women live with me. My cousin is OK with me using them on my taxes if it is legal. The two kids get SSI because of there mothers death. My cousin gets the check each month.
2007-11-27 01:53:45 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ Other - Taxes
If the kids lived in your home (for which you provided more than half the cost to maintain) all year and they did not have income greater than $3,400 you can claim them as dependents. If I meet the same conditions you could also claim me as a dependent.
2007-11-27 02:27:22 · answer #1 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Judy is correct. Make sure you can document that you're spending more than the SS survivor benefit on each child to prove >50% support. And tell your cousin to send those cheques over to you - it's the kid's money, not his. Sounds like you might want to look at getting legal custody. Then they would be dependent children.
2007-11-27 18:09:17 · answer #2 · answered by Knightly 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What a mess! But bless you for caring for the kids.
All that said - since they lived with you ALL year, and didn't live with a parent so they can't be claimed by anyone as a qualifying child, and you provided over half of their support, you could claim them as qualifying relatives. They would not qualify you for earned income credit though, and you couldn't take a child tax credit for them, but you could take an exemption.
2007-11-27 10:42:32 · answer #3 · answered by Judy 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You should probably call the IRS and ask them, not sure if I would want advice on that subject from this site. (just in case you get the wrong info) You wouldn't want the IRS knocking on your door a few years from now. They would be able to help you best.
2007-11-27 09:59:28 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
you have to prove that you provided over 1/2 the kids' support for 2007 in order to get a deduction.
GL, it'll be tricky.
2007-11-27 09:59:21 · answer #5 · answered by Spock (rhp) 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Yes you can
2007-11-27 09:58:09 · answer #6 · answered by Maria M 1 · 0⤊ 5⤋