My daughter lived in Honduras but I support her all year around. Can I claim her in my taxes?
I would add that she has to be a United States citizen or resident AND she has to have a social security number. Then you have to prove to the IRS that you provide more than 50% of her support.
IRS guidelines follow: Keeping Up a Home:
To qualify for head of household status, you must pay more than half of the cost of keeping up a home for the year. You can determine whether you paid more than half of the cost of keeping up a home by using the following worksheet.
IRS: Cost of Keeping Up a Home
Amount You Paid
Total Cost
Property taxes $ $
Mortgage interest expense
Rent
Utility charges
Upkeep and repairs
Property insurance
Food consumed
on the premises
Other household expenses
Totals $ $
Minus total amount you paid ( )
Amount others paid $
If the total amount you paid is more than the amount others paid, you meet the requirement of paying more than half the cost of keeping up the home.
Include in the cost of upkeep expenses such as rent, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, insurance on the home, repairs, utilities, and food eaten in the home.
If you used payments you received under Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or other public assistance programs to pay part of the cost of
keeping up your home, you cannot count them as money you paid. However, you must include them in the total cost of keeping up your home to figure if you
paid over half the cost.
Costs you do not include. Do not include in the cost of upkeep expenses such as clothing, education, medical treatment, vacations, life insurance, or transportation. Also, do not include the rental value of a home you own or the value of your services or those of a member of your household.
notaperviemusculargent | Feb 18, 2008
I would not think so
slick o | Feb 18, 2008
From what I understand, she has to reside with you at least 6 months out of the year.
Basically, you can claim a dependent if the person meets one of two criteria:
* qualifying child or
* qualifying relative.
And here, briefly, are some guidelines to help you out. First, the qualifying child rules always take precedence over the qualifying relative rules. So if someone can claim a dependent using the qualifying child rules, then no one else can claim the same dependent using the qualifying relative rules.
Secondly, both sets of rules are designed to award the dependent to one and only taxpayer. For example, under the qualifying child rules, the child must live with you for more than half the year. Under the qualifying relative rules, the taxpayer must provide more than half of the dependent’s total support. While a bit complicated, these rules are designed to eliminate confusion over who gets to claim the dependent.
Thirdly, the IRS will always audit tax returns where two or more taxpayers attempt to claim the same dependent. Only one taxpayer will win. The taxpayer who loses might also lose the related tax breaks such as child tax credit, earned income credit, or Head of Household filing status. What that means, is that the taxpayer who loses the IRS audit will have to pay additional taxes, plus penalties and interest. That makes dependent audits one of the most expensive audits that a taxpayer can endure.
To protect yourself, you should make sure that you can claim the dependents. You should gather any documents that would support your claim. It would also be advisable to get a written agreement with an ex-spouse detailing who gets to claim the dependents and for which years.
Chrissy C | Feb 18, 2008
She has to be a full time student age 23 or younger in order for you to claim her on your taxes regardless of where she lives. This rule is basically designed to recognize that kids go to college all over the world but you still support them.
dave e | Feb 18, 2008
Is your daughter a citizen of the US?
v b | Feb 18, 2008
She does NOT have to live with you.
The child must be a U.S. Citizen or Foreign National (with a social security number or an itin) and under the age of 19 (or 24 if a student) and if you provided more than 50% of her total support including housing, food etc., AND nobody else is claiming her as a dependent on a US Income Tax return, then you can claim her.
Tomk | Feb 19, 2008
