Can 1 adult and their 1 child/dependent be claimed as dependents by someone else in the folowing circumstance?

Question

1 adult with 1 child/dependent living on their own from January through July 2008. The 1 adult is the dependent of no one and the 1 child is only the dependent of the 1 adult.

From August through December 2008, the 1 adult and 1 child/dependent move in with a home-owning relative. The 1 adult pays rent to the home-owning relative, and pays for their share of the utilities and food.

For 2008 Income Taxes, can the 1 adult and their 1 child/dependent be claimed as dependents of the home-owning relative?

For 2009 Income Taxes, can the 1 adult and their 1 child/dependent be claimed as dependents of the home-owning relative if the 1 adult continues to pay rent, and their share of the utilities/food?

Answer 1

A dependent can be your qualifying child or qualifying relative. Read: http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/03/requ...  

Answer 2

For 2008 no, because it was for less than half the year.  For 2009, probably no, but possibly if the rent is much less than market rate you could make a case that the minimal rent is a form of support.  If the rent is market rate, or even near it, definitely no.

Answer 3

if the 1 adult is paying rent, food, and utilities they are self-entities and cannot be claimed by the homeowner.

If the homeowner was paying for the care of the 1 adult and 1 child then they could claim them, however they are not entitled to claim the 2 people just because they lived under their roof.  If that were the case then renters of houses and apartments would be eligible to claim their tennants... And that doesn't happen.

Answer 4

Assuming the adult is over age 18, or over 23 if she is a full time student, if she makes over $3500 for the year the relative couldn't claim her in either of the years, no matter how much of the year she lived with this relative.  If she doesn't make at least $3500 gross for the year, then if the relative provides over half of her support for the year, then the relative could claim her.  This assumes the relative is immediate family, a parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt or uncle.  If it's a cousin, then the adult would have to live with the relative ALL year for the relative to claim her.

For the child, the rules are a little different, but the result is probably the same.  For 2008, no, since the child didn't live with them for over half the year, they can't claim the child.  For 2009, if the child did live with the relative for over half the year, and the relative is very closely related to the child like a grandparent or an aunt, then the relative could claim the child if the mom didn't - it's their choice, and they can decide which of them claims the child, since either is eligible.  But if they can't agree, the mom has first rights - the relative can only claim the child if the mom doesn't.

Answer 5

You must have lived with this person for the whole year. Also, the person you live with has to provide more than half the support.

Go to www.irs.gov for more detailed info.

Answer 6

2008 no

2009 no