v b
 |
If you are under the age of 19 (or under the age of 24 and were in school for 5 months of the year) and you *didn't* support yourself, your mom is the ONLY one who can claim you.
If you are older, but had no income, the person who can show they provided more than 50% of your support is the only person eligible. This is your mom.
Even if they could magically show that they paid more than half, your friend won't be able to claim you since as a non-relative, you have to have lived with them from 1/1 to 12/31. 4 months wouldn't cut it. |
countrychick819
|
i believe your mother should clain you, i live in tennessee also, pretty much the same story, i believe its once your 18 its the last year you can be claimed as a dependant unless your in school. if you worked then they wouldnt be able to claim you, its whoever you lived with the longest should claim you, its suppose to be 6 months i believe. oh yah why dont you pay for anything? your not in school and you dont have a job? |
Micki
 |
Tax Planning: U.S.Qualifying Children as Dependents
Four tests will qualify a child to be a dependent
By William Perez, About.com
Jan 14 2008
Being able to claim a dependent on a tax return is tied to a number of related tax benefits. Taxpayers who claim dependents can claim an additional personal exemption for each dependent. Also, taxpayers may be eligible to claim the child tax credit, the child and dependent care tax credit, and the earned income tax credit. Unmarried taxpayers who support a dependent may be eligible to file as head of household.
With all these tax benefits tied to claiming a dependent, it is important to make sure that you really can claim the dependent on your tax return.
Basically, you can claim a dependent if the person meets one of two criteria:
qualifying child1 or
qualifying relative2.
And here, briefly, are some guidelines to help you out. First, the qualifying child rules always take precedence over the qualifying relative rules. So if someone can claim a dependent using the qualifying child rules, then no one else can claim the same dependent using the qualifying relative rules.
Secondly, both sets of rules are designed to award the dependent to one and only taxpayer. For example, under the qualifying child rules, the child must live with you for more than half the year. Under the qualifying relative rules, the taxpayer must provide more than half of the dependent's total support. While a bit complicated, these rules are designed to eliminate confusion over who gets to claim the dependent.
Thirdly, the IRS will always audit tax returns where two or more taxpayers attempt to claim the same dependent. Only one taxpayer will win. The taxpayer who loses might also lose the related tax breaks such as child tax credit, earned income credit, or Head of Household filing status. What that means, is that the taxpayer who loses the IRS audit will have to pay additional taxes, plus penalties and interest. That makes dependent audits one of the most expensive audits that a taxpayer can endure.
To protect yourself, you should make sure that you can claim the dependents. You should gather any documents that would support your claim. It would also be advisable to get a written agreement with an ex-spouse detailing who gets to claim the dependents and for which years.
Next pages:
Qualifying Children3
Qualifying Relatives4
Residency Requirements for Qualifying Relatives5
Jan 14 2008
These rules enable you claim a child as a dependent.
Qualifying Children
To be claimed as a qualifying child, the person must meet four criteria:
Relationship — the person must be your child, step child, adopted child, foster child, brother or sister, or a descendant of one of these (for example, a grandchild or nephew).
Residence — for more than half the year, the person must have the same residence as you do.
Age — the person must be
under age 19 at the end of the year, or
under age 24 and a be a full-time student for at least five months out of the year, or
any age and totally and permanently disabled.
Support — the person did not provide more than half of his or her own support during the year.
Some Tips about Claiming Qualifying Children
The qualifying child must live with you for more than half the year. More than half a year means, at minimum, six months and one day. If you share custody, you may want to keep a log of where the child spends the night in your calendar or day planner.
The new rules state that the qualifying child must not provide more than half of his or her own support. This is different from the old rules. Under the old rules, the taxpayer had to provide over half the support for the child. The change makes it easier for families relying on public assistance, charity, and gifts from family members to claim a dependent.
You might still be able to claim the child as a qualifying relative if the child does not meet the criteria to be a qualifying child. But the qualifying child rules always prevail over the qualifying relative rules. So you'll want to make sure the dependent would not qualify as a qualifying child for someone else before claiming a qualifying relative on your tax return.
Tie-Breaker Tests for Claiming a Qualifying Child
If two or more taxpayers claim a dependent as a qualifying child in the same year, the IRS will use the following tie-breaker tests to determine which taxpayer is eligible to claim the dependent. The tie-breaker tests are listed in order of priority.
The child will be the qualifying child of:
the parent,
the parent with whom the child lived for the longest time during the year,
if the time was equal, the parent with the highest adjusted gross income6,
if no taxpayer is the child's parent, the taxpayer with the highest adjusted gross income7.
Some Additional Tips for Tie-Breaker Situations
A child can be the dependent of at most one taxpayer. If you qualify to claim |
Homepage 
Financial
Forum 
Taxes 
No Spam
Adult 
Gambling
Unfinished
Deception
Plagiarism
Not English
