Can I Claim My Dad as a Dependent?

You can claim your father as a dependent on your tax return, which can provide a tax benefit. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has established criteria that must be met to do so. These requirements involve several specific tests related to your father’s income, the financial support you provide, and his residency status. Meeting these conditions allows you to reduce your overall tax liability.

The Qualifying Relative Tests

To claim your father as a dependent, he must meet five tests to be considered a “qualifying relative” by the IRS. Each test addresses a different aspect of your father’s personal and financial situation. All five of these conditions must be satisfied in the tax year you intend to claim him.

Not a Qualifying Child Test

The first requirement is that your father cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. This rule is straightforward for a parent, as age and relationship factors prevent a parent from being considered a child for tax purposes. The test ensures each dependent is claimed under the correct category.

Relationship Test

Your father automatically meets the relationship test. The IRS includes parents on its list of relatives who can be claimed as a dependent even if they do not live with you. As long as all other tests are met, he can be your dependent regardless of where he resides.

Gross Income Test

The gross income test states that your father’s gross income for the year must be below a certain threshold, which is $5,050 for the 2024 tax year. Gross income includes all income received in the form of money, property, and services that is not tax-exempt. This encompasses wages, salaries, interest, and dividends.

It is important to know what is not included in gross income for this test. Social Security benefits may be partially or entirely non-taxable. If your father’s only income is from non-taxable Social Security, he would pass the gross income test. Other non-taxable income sources, such as welfare benefits or gifts, are also excluded.

Support Test

You must provide more than half of your father’s total support for the year. This test compares the amount you contribute to your father’s living expenses against the total support he received from all sources. This includes any funds he contributed himself.

Citizenship or Residency Test

Your father must meet the citizenship or residency test. To satisfy this, he must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico for some part of the year. A person is considered a U.S. resident for tax purposes if they have a green card or meet the substantial presence test.

Calculating Total Support

To satisfy the support test, you must calculate the total amount spent on your father’s support for the year from all sources. This includes funds you provided, contributions from your father’s income, other relatives, or government assistance. IRS Publication 501 has worksheets to help with these calculations.

Common support expenses include food, clothing, education, medical care, recreation, and transportation. For shared expenses like groceries, divide the total cost among all household members to find your father’s portion. Any funds your father uses from his own savings or income count as his contribution.

Lodging is a component of total support, valued at its “fair rental value,” not your mortgage payments. Fair rental value is what you could expect from a stranger for the same lodging, including an allowance for furniture and utilities.

For example, if your father lives with you in a home with a fair rental value of $24,000 for the year, and there are three people in the household, his share of lodging is $8,000. Add this to his other support costs, like food ($3,600) and medical expenses ($4,000), for a total support figure of $15,600. To meet the test, you must have paid for more than $7,800 of these costs.

Handling Multiple Support Agreements

When a group of people, such as siblings, collectively provides more than half of a parent’s support but no single person provides more than half, a Multiple Support Agreement can be used. This IRS rule allows one person from the group to claim the parent as a dependent.

To use a Multiple Support Agreement, four conditions must be met:

• You and the other contributors together must have provided more than half of your father’s total support.
• You must have personally contributed more than 10% of the total support.
• No single person in the group can have contributed more than half of the support.
• Your father must meet all the other qualifying relative tests.

If these conditions are satisfied, the group can decide who will claim the dependent. The designated person must file IRS Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration, with their tax return. This form lists the names and Social Security numbers of every other person who contributed more than 10% of the support.

Each person in the group who contributed more than 10% must provide a signed statement agreeing not to claim the dependent for that year. You do not file these statements with your return, but you must keep them for your records in case the IRS requests them.

Claiming Your Dad on Your Tax Return

Once you confirm your father meets all requirements, you can claim him on your tax return. You will report this information on Form 1040, the U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.

In the dependents section of Form 1040, enter your father’s full name, his Social Security number, and his relationship to you. Ensure this information is entered exactly as it appears on his Social Security card to avoid processing delays.

After entering his personal information, you must check the box for the “Credit for Other Dependents.” As a qualifying relative, he is eligible for this nonrefundable credit of up to $500. This credit directly reduces the amount of tax you owe.