{"id":1884,"date":"2016-02-26T17:51:46","date_gmt":"2016-02-26T23:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/taxprocenter.proconnect.intuit.com\/?p=1884"},"modified":"2017-10-19T10:55:55","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T15:55:55","slug":"who-can-be-claimed-as-a-dependent-for-tax-purposes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/accountants.intuit.com\/taxprocenter\/tax-law-and-news\/who-can-be-claimed-as-a-dependent-for-tax-purposes\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Can Be Claimed as a Dependent for Tax Purposes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tax time can be confusing for your clients, especially when it comes to figuring out who they can claim as a dependent. Whether your clients are welcoming a new child into the family, bringing an older child back home, or have simply accepted financial responsibility for a relative or friend, you can help make sure their tax filings are adjusted accordingly. Here is what you need to know to pass on to your clients:<\/span><\/p>\n

Types of Dependents for Tax Purposes<\/b><\/p>\n

Tax law and IRS regulations have established two primary categories of dependents who can be claimed on your tax return: qualifying children and qualifying relatives. Both categories are claimed identically on your tax return, but each has different rules for who can qualify.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>standard dependent exemption<\/span><\/a> of $4,000 for tax year 2015 is the same for both types of dependents.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the category of qualifying children is self-explanatory, the category of qualifying relatives is a bit less obvious. Notably, “relative” is used in a legal context here and covers both blood relatives and dependents to whom you aren’t actually related in the traditional sense, such as the brother of a boyfriend or girlfriend, or even unrelated family friends who live with you.<\/span><\/p>\n

For both categories, <\/span>claiming someone as a dependent<\/span><\/a> amounts to a legal assertion that you were the primary source of their financial support throughout the year. Doing so allows you to claim an exemption on your own income tax return.<\/span><\/p>\n

In both cases, a dependent can only be claimed on one person’s tax return. If more than one person provides financial support for that dependent, you’ll need to decide between yourselves which person gets to claim the exemption. If there is a disagreement, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the parent with whom the child resided for the longest time during the year. If there is no parent, the child is treated as the qualifying child of the taxpayer with the highest adjusted gross income (AGI) for the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding Qualifying Children Dependents for Taxes<\/b><\/p>\n

If you plan to claim somebody as a qualifying child dependent, that person must:<\/span><\/p>\n