The taxpayer in every case below is a U.S. citizen and not a dependent. Which of
ID: 412222 • Letter: T
Question
The taxpayer in every case below is a U.S. citizen and not a dependent. Which of the following individuals meet the dependency tests as a qualifying child of the taxpayer?
a. Brad (17) is the taxpayer's stepson. He lived with the taxpayer for five months and moved out with his mom when the taxpayer and Brad's mom got a divorce. The taxpayer contributed over 50% of the support of the household.
b. April's mom left April (6) with the taxpayer about two years ago and has not been heard from since. April is not related to the taxpayer. Meanwhile, the taxpayer has been raising April as her own child, she pays for 100% of her support, and no one else lives in their household.
c. Stacy (19) left home three years ago and moved in with her sister Tracy (21), the taxpayer. Stacy is a full-time student who paid less than 50% of her own support and earned $15,000. Tracy provided more than half of Stacy's support. Martin (62), lived with his son, James.
d. Martin was sick, did not have any income, and lived with the James all year. James paid all of Martin's support for the year. Martin's wife (60) works and earned $20,000. They are filing married filing jointly (MFJ).
Explanation / Answer
Answer - Option (C)
Explanation: To claim a qualifying child dependency exemption, all of the following dependency test must be met.
- Member of household
- Relationship test
- Citizen or resident test
- Joint Return test
- Age or Student test
- Support test
1) Member of household - The child must live with the taxpayer for more than 6 months as a member of the taxpayer's household.
2) Relationship - There must be some relation between the person and the taxpayer. The relation can be any of the following relations: child, brother/sister, stepchild, stepbrother/stepsister, half brother/half sister, grandchild, niece/nephew or a legally adopted child or a child lawfully placed for adoption.
3) Citizen or Resident Test - The child must be a citizen of the US, the US Canada or Mexico.
4) Joint Return Test - Taxpayers will meet this test for persons who are:
- married but do not file a joint return, or
- married and file a joint return only to claim a refund of withheld tax;
5) Age or Student Test - In the age or student test, the child must be under the age of 19 years or under the age of 24 years of age and is a full-time student for at least 5 months.
6) Support Test - The support test will be qualified by the child if the taxpayer provided more than half of a person's total support for the entire year.
Out of the given alternatives, only option (C) qualifies all of the above tests.
Option (A) is ruled out because Brad does not qualify for the “Member of the household test” which says that the child must live with the taxpayer for more than 6 months.
Option (B) is ruled out because April does not qualify for the “Relationship test” which says that there has to be some relation between the child and the taxpayer. But, in the given scenario, the taxpayer and April are not related in any of the allowed ways.
Option (D) is ruled out because Martin does not meet the “Age or student test” which says that the child must be under the age of 19 years or 24 years with more than 6 months as a full time student. But in the given scenario, Martin, aged 62, lives with his son James and does not meet the dependency tests as a qualifying child of the taxpayer.
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