My sister(18) called me a little bit ago because our mom filed her as a dependent and now she is unable to claim herself. Both of my parents don’t work so they can get as much state benefits as possible(housing assistance, SNAP benefits, etc.) My sister made almost 50k working insane overtime. I told her she needs to talk to an actual tax expert, I read a irs requirement stating to file a dependent they have to provide 50% of living expenses and I don’t know what that all entails. I’d like to hear the opinions of someone who understands taxes better than I do.
Does my sister qualify as a dependent
byu/New_Inflation_6265 inpersonalfinance
Posted by New_Inflation_6265
4 Comments
https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent
Go through that from the parent’s perspective.
It’s not about how much your sister made, but how much of her own support she provided.
If she’s living with her parents rent free and not contributing to household expenses, she’s likely a dependent.
If she’s paying rent or over 50% of her own support (and certainly if not even living with them), she’s probably not.
But like u/MarcableFluke said, go through the IRS tool. At 18 though, just realize the key is what she’s paying for, not what she makes.
Once 19, then it’ll also become about income and student or not.
They dont work where is their income from? If the sister doesn’t live with them or she is paying for 50% or more of the morgage/property tax if the house is in her name and all of the utilities and bills are paid by her your parents are the dependants not her.
She should get this sorted you parents may be committing fraud.
my dad claimed me and my brother as dependants until we graduated undergrad, on the basis that he paid our college.