You generally cannot claim a married person as a
dependent if he or she files a joint tax return, unless he or she files
only to claim for a refund and no tax liability would exist for either
spouse on tax returns if you would file separate tax returns.
You generally cannot claim a married person as a
dependent if he or she files a joint tax return, unless taxes were taken
out of their pay so they only file a joint tax return to get a refund of
what was withheld.
It goes without saying that an adopted child is always treated as your own child.
Although a child can be a qualifying child of more than
one person, only one person can actually treat the child as a qualifying
child to take an exemption for the child and to claim the head of
household filing status. This also holds true for claiming the Child tax
Credit and the Earned Income Credit. Also, only one person can actually
treat the child as a qualifying child for the Credit for child and Dependent
Care Expenses and the exclusion from income for dependent care benefits.
To determine which person can treat the child as a
qualifying child to claim certain tax benefits, and regarding the tiebreaker rules,
if only one of the persons is the child's parent, the child is treated as
the qualifying child of the parent.
There are four tests that must be met for a person to be
your qualifying relative. The member of household or relationship test
must be met. The gross income test must be met. You must also meet the "Not
a qualifying child test". The residency test is not one of these tests. The
residency test is to be met for something else.
A qualifying child must
be under 19 at the end of the year and younger than you or younger than
your spouse. However, a qualifying relative does not have to be under age 19
and younger than you.
To be your qualifying child, a child who is not
permanently and totally disabled must be younger than you or your spouse
but does not have to be younger than both of you.
A person related to you who is your step-parent, a
legally adopted child, a foster child does
not have to live with you all year as a member of you household to meet
the member of household or relationship test. However, a foster parent
does need to live with you all year.
For example, your spouse's uncle who receives more than half of his
support from you may be your qualifying relative, even though he does not
live with you. If you and your spouse file separate tax returns, your
spouse's uncle can be your qualifying relative only if he lives with you
all year as a member of your household.
The year you provide the support is the year you pay for
it. If you pay for support with borrowed funds then this is
considered provided support by you regardless if you repay the loan or
not.
Capital items, such as furniture, appliances, and cars,
that are bought for a person during the year can be included in total
support. You buy a $150 TV set as a birthday present for your 12-year-old
child. The
