What are the requirements to consider someone a dependant for ca taxes?

Question

my spouse (we are not married but together 11 yrs) has been out of work all of 2008. I've been the sole income. Can I change my payroll tax deductions to reflect her as my dependant?

Answer 1

If you have a Registered Domestic Parternship, you file as if married for California purposes, so you can claim the additional "single wage-earner" exemption on your state DE-4.  The same if you are married under Califonria law.

For Federal purposes, or (for CA purposes) if you do not have a Registered Domestic Partnership, it's more complicated.  If her income is less than the standard exemption amount ($3500?), and you supply more than half of her "support" (almost certain, if you're maintaining the location you live), then you may claim her as a dependent, but she may have to file a separate Federal return.  (If she has over $900 of "unearned income", or more than $5000 or so (the standard deduction) of total gross income, she'd need to file ) (The numbers are different for CA, and I don't know what they are.)

(Significantly edited since the first thumbs-down.  Sorry about not noticing the gender of your spouse.)

If whoever gave me a thumbs-down was because of my apparent support of same-s*x marriage in California, thank you.  I appreciate the complement.

If it was because of my apparent opposition of same-s*x marriage in California, I apologize.  I support it.

If it's because I failed to notice the gender of your spouse in the original question, I sincerely apologize.

If for some other reason, I'd like to know what the reason is.

Answer 2

CA recognizes domestic partnerships for tax state purposes.  That's how you probably should file.

For Federal income tax purposes, you can only file as Single.  If she lived in your home all year, earned less than $3,400 (2007) or $3,500 (2008) and you provided more than half of her total support for the entire year you could claim her as a dependent.  Presuming that your relationship doesn't violate local law (highly unlikely in CA) then you're OK to claim her as a dependent under the Qualifying Relative rule on your Federal return.

Answer 3

Qualifying Child

There are five tests that must be met for a child to be your qualifying child. The five tests are:

Relationship,

Age,

Residency,

Support, and

Special test for qualifying child of more than one person.

These tests are explained next.

Relationship Test

To meet this test, a child must be:

Your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant (for example, your grandchild) of any of them, or

Your brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant (for example, your niece or nephew) of any of them.

Adopted child.   An adopted child is always treated as your own child. The term “adopted child” includes a child who was lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.

Foster child.   A foster child is an individual who is placed with you by an authorized placement agency or by judgment, decree, or other order of any court of competent jurisdiction.

Age Test

To meet this test, a child must be:

Under age 19 at the end of the year,

A full-time student under age 24 at the end of the year, or

Permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, regardless of age.

Example.

Your son turned 19 on December 10. Unless he was disabled or a full-time student, he does not meet the age test because, at the end of the year, he was not under age 19.

Full-time student.   A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance.

Student defined.   To qualify as a student, your child must be, during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year:

A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body at the school, or

A student taking a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school described in (1), or by a state, county, or local government agency.

The 5 calendar months do not have to be consecutive.

School defined.   A school can be an elementary school, junior and senior high school, college, university, or technical, trade, or mechanical school. However, an on-the-job training course, correspondence school, or school offering courses only through the Internet does not count as a school.

Vocational high school students.   Students who work on “co-op” jobs in private industry as a part of a school's regular course of classroom and practical training are considered full-time students.

Permanently and totally disabled.   Your child is permanently and totally disabled if both of the following apply.

He or she cannot engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition.

A doctor determines the condition has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year or can lead to death.

Residency Test

To meet this test, your child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. There are exceptions for temporary absences, children who were born or died during the year, kidnapped children, and children of divorced or separated parents.

Temporary absences.   Your child is considered to have lived with you during periods of time when one of you, or both, are temporarily absent due to special circumstances such as:

Illness,

Education,

Business,

Vacation, or

Military service.

Death or birth of child.   A child who was born or died during the year is treated as having lived with you all year if your home was the child's home the entire time he or she was alive during the year. The same is true if the child lived with you all year except for any required hospital stay following birth.

Child born alive.   You may be able to claim an exemption for a child who was born alive during the year, even if the child lived only for a moment. State or local law must treat the child as having been born alive. There must be proof of a live birth shown by an official document, such as a birth certificate. The child must be your qualifying child or qualifying relative, and all the other tests to claim an exemption for a dependent must be met.

Stillborn child.   You cannot claim an exemption for a stillborn child.

Kidnapped child.   You can treat your child as meeting the residency test even if the child has been kidnapped, but both of the following statements must be true.

The child is presumed by law enforcement authorities to have been kidnapped by someone who is not a member of your family or the child's family.

In the year the kidnapping occurred, the child lived with you for more than half of the part of the year before the date of the kidnapping.

  This treatment applies for all years until the child is returned. However, the last year this treatment can apply is the earlier of:

The year there is a determination that the child is dead, or

The year the child would have reached age 18.

Children of divorced or separated parents.   In most cases, because of the residency test, a child of divorced or separated parents is the qualifying child of the custodial parent. However, the child will be treated as the qualifying child of the noncustodial parent if all four of the following statements are true.

The parents:

Are divorced or legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance,

Are separated under a written separation agreement, or

Lived apart at all times during the last 6 months of the year.

The child received over half of his or her support for the year from the parents.

The child is in the custody of one or both parents for more than half of the year.

Either of the following statements is true.

The custodial parent signs a written declaration, discussed later, that he or she will not claim the child as a dependent for the year, and the noncustodial parent attaches this written declaration to his or her return. (If the decree or agreement went into effect after 1984, see Divorce decree or separation agreement made after 1984, later.)

A pre-1985 decree of divorce or separate maintenance or written separation agreement that applies to 2007 states that the noncustodial parent can claim the child as a dependent, the decree or agreement was not changed after 1984 to say the noncustodial parent cannot claim the child as a dependent, and the noncustodial parent provides at least $600 for the child's support during the year.

Custodial parent and noncustodial parent.   The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the greater part of the year. The other parent is the noncustodial parent.

  If the parents divorced or separated during the year and the child lived with both parents before the separation, the custodial parent is the one with whom the child lived for the greater part of the rest of the year.

Example.

Your child lived with you for 10 months of the year. The child lived with your former spouse for the other 2 months. You are considered the custodial parent.

Written declaration.    The custodial parent may use either Form 8332 or a similar statement (containing the same information required by the form) to make the written declaration to release the exemption to the noncustodial parent. The noncustodial parent must attach the form or statement to his or her tax return.

  The exemption can be released for 1 year, for a number of specified years (for example, alternate years), or for all future years, as specified in the declaration. If the exemption is released for more than 1 year, the original release must be attached to the return of the noncustodial parent for the first year, and a copy must be attached for each later year.

Divorce decree or separation agreement made after 1984.   If the divorce decree or separation agreement went into effect after 1984, the noncustodial parent can attach certain pages from the decree or agreement instead of Form 8332. To be able to do this, the decree or agreement must state all three of the following.

The noncustodial parent can claim the child as a dependent without regard to any condition, such as payment of support.

The custodial parent will not claim the child as a dependent for the year.

The years for which the noncustodial parent, rather than the custodial parent, can claim the child as a dependent.

  The noncustodial parent must attach all of the following pages of the decree or agreement to his or her tax return.

The cover page (write the other parent's social security number on this page).

The pages that include all of the information identified in items (1) through (3) above.

The signature page with the other parent's signature and the date of the agreement.

  

The noncustodial parent must attach the required information even if it was filed with a return in an earlier year.

Remarried parent.   If you remarry, the support provided by your new spouse is treated as provided by you.

Parents who never married.   This special rule for divorced or separated parents also applies to parents who never married.

Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Child)

To meet this test, the child cannot have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

This test is different from the support test to be a qualifying relative, which is described later. However, to see what is or is not support, see Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Relative), later. If you are not sure whether a child provided more than half of his or her own support, you may find Worksheet 1 helpful.

Scholarships.   A scholarship received by a child who is a full-time student is not taken into account in determining whether the child provided more than half of his or her own support.

Special Test for Qualifying Child of More Than One Person

If your qualifying child is not a qualifying child for anyone else, this test does not apply to you a