Can I add my now retired parents to my taxes?

Question

Can I claim my parents as my dependents since they are now retired and l provide housing, food, etc for them??

Answer 1

do you provide over 1/2 of their support. if they have retirement income and are collecting social security i think it may be difficult for you to prove.

Answer 2

it sounds like you can as long as your providing for them 50%

Answer 3

If either parent has $3,400 of taxable pension income or investment income, that parent cannot be your dependent even if you support the parent.  

If one parent has $3,400 of income subject to tax, that parent can file a joint return with the other parent, so you can't claim the other parent even if the other parent had zero income and you provided all support.  

So, in order to claim both parents, each parent would have to have less than $3,400 of income subject to tax, and you would have to provide over 50% of each parent's support.  

The housing you provide is part of support, but it is not necessary that your parents live with you to be your dependent, and the fact that they live with you does not make them your dependents.

Worksheet 3-1 of IRS Pub 17 will help you determine the amount of support provided.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf

Answer 4

If you provide more than 50% of their support.  To determine that you take the cost of everything that you provide and compare that to their income.  Just the fact that they live in you house will not do.

Answer 5

See IRS publication 503 for the full test of whether you can claim them as dependents.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p503/ind...

Answer 6

You can claim your parents as qualifying relatives if they do not make more than $3,400 in taxable income and you provided more than half of their support - as parents, they do not have to live with you.

See IRS Publication 501 for more information.

Answer 7

Go to the IRS web site and research Dependants.  The tests for who is, and is not, a dependant are very clearly spelled out.