Relationships do affect our lifestyle and the way we live our lives. You can claim as dependent on your taxes but before claiming, you need to figure out some important things so that you can then follow these rules to claim your taxes.
In this article, we will be letting you know the do’s and don’ts of claiming dependents so keep on reading so that if you wish to claim dependents on taxes, you can take help from these.
There are some things which should be more important than your family such as those who have helped you deal with the toughest of times. Sometimes it is you who must be helping out others in need. This might include financial need which you might provide to someone in need.
This can put a financial stress on you in order to meet their needs such as costs of food, electricity, water and gas. You do not need to worry about these costs because you can claim these people on your taxes if they meet some important criteria.
Below we mention a few rules which will help you to decide what you should and what you shouldn’t in order to claim as a dependent.
Do’s of claiming dependents
You can claim dependents on your taxes on all the children that were born in the same year. Even if the child was born on 31st December, you can claim as dependent on your taxes.
Apart from this, you can also claim as dependents for some of your family members such as nieces, nephews, grandparents, aunts and uncles and children. You can claim as dependents if you have supported these people financially and have provided them one half of their total support.
Aside from this, you can only claim as dependent if they have not being claimed as dependents on anyone else’s taxes. You can also claim as dependent on these relationships if they earn less than 3900 dollars and if they are a permanent citizen of the united states of America, or else a resident of the united states, Canada and Mexico.
Don’ts of claiming dependents
You should not claim as dependent for someone you have taken care of financially for less than a year or less than six months. The child must live with you for atleast six months after which you can claim as dependent. Only then will the child come under the tax filing rule. if for instance, the mother and the father take care of the child for different parts of the year, the parent who has taken care of the child for a longer period of time will then be eligible to claim on their taxes.
Apart from this, you should not claim as dependent for a child for whom you have already paid the child support and who only lives with you for less than six months. It is very important that in order to claim as dependent on your taxes, the child lives with you for atleast six months. Even if it is a day less than six months, you will not be able to claim as dependent on your taxes. In some cases, there can be an exception to the six month rule but that can only be applied if the child cannot be claimed as someone who qualifies for any other taxpayer.
Both the father and the mother cannot at the same time claim as dependents on their taxes for a child or any other relative. In such cases, it is very important to either sort out amongst yourselves, or if that is not possible, then it will be decided according to the fact that whoever has taken longer care will then be eligible to claim as dependent.
Wrapping up
So, these were the do’s and don’ts of claiming as dependents on your taxes. Following these rules, you must keep in mind that the only way to claim as dependent for any relation can be applied if you have taken care of your child or relative for a period of six months or more. The rule cannot be applied if you have taken care of them for less than six months.
