Friday, March 29, 2019

Claiming Dependants: What You Need to Know


Recent tax reform has brought about a lot of changes. One of these changes is the fact that you can no longer claim the dependent exemption.  


However, you can still have dependents who qualify as such for various tax benefits, such as the Child Tax Credit. In order to be a dependent for IRS purposes, the person must be a “qualifying child” or relative and must meet specific criteria.

For children, these criteria include:

l  The person must be your child, an adopted child, a foster child, a sibling, or otherwise related to you in a qualified way
l  The person must live with you for more than half of the year
l  The person cannot file a joint return in the tax year you claim him or her as a dependent
l  The person cannot provide more than half of their own support during the given tax year
l  The person must be under 19 or under 24 if a full-time student; this age requirement does not apply to those who are permanently disabled

For adults, the criteria are slightly different. They include:

l  Not also being the “qualifying child” of you or any other taxpayer
l  Lives with you all year as a full member of your home and/or is a relative
l  Earns less than $4,150
l  You must provide more than half of the support for this person each year

As you can see, there are some pretty clear guidelines as to who counts as a dependent. However, people are sometimes still a bit confused on this matter, especially if the person they’re claiming as a dependent is not a blood relative.

If you have confusion, for any reason, about claiming dependents or about the benefits of claiming them, talk with a tax professional to make sure you’re doing everything correctly and in a way that is beneficial for you.

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