Full question:
If someone asks you to claim their child and they don't and you have helped them out with money anf food for the child. Can they come back on you later and run to the IRS and report you without them getting into trouble also?
- Category: Taxes
- Date:
- State: Colorado
Answer:
The ability to claim a child as a dependent on your taxes depends on whether the child qualifies under IRS rules. Only one person can claim a child as a dependent in a given tax year.
To be a qualifying child, the dependent must meet six tests:
- Relationship: The child must be your child (including foster, step, or adopted), sibling (including half or step), or their descendants (like a grandchild or niece).
- Age: The child must be under nineteen, under twenty-four and a full-time student for at least five months of the year, or permanently disabled regardless of age.
- Residency: The child must live with you for at least half the year.
- Support: The child cannot provide more than half of their own support.
- Joint Return: The child cannot file a joint return with a spouse, unless it's solely to claim a refund.
- Special Test: If the parents are divorced, only one can claim the child, typically the one with the higher income unless agreed otherwise.
If the child does not qualify as a qualifying child, they may be a qualifying relative. For this classification, the following conditions apply:
- Not a qualifying child: The person cannot be a qualifying child for you or anyone else.
- Relationship: The relative must live with you or be your child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or a direct descendant of these relatives.
- Gross income: The relative's gross income must be less than three thousand six hundred fifty dollars.
- Support: You must provide more than half of their support during the year. If multiple people provide support, any taxpayer providing more than ten percent can claim the relative with written permission from others.
In summary, if you claim a child improperly, the child's parent could report you to the IRS. However, they may also face consequences if they are found to have allowed or encouraged the improper claim.
This content is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Legal statutes mentioned reflect the law at the time the content was written and may no longer be current. Always verify the latest version of the law before relying on it.