Can I Claim a Boyfriend/Girlfriend as a Dependent on Income Taxes? (2024)

FAQs

Can I Claim a Boyfriend/Girlfriend as a Dependent on Income Taxes? ›

You can claim a boyfriend or girlfriend as a dependent on your federal income taxes if that person meets certain Internal Revenue Service requirements. To qualify as a dependent, your partner must have lived with you for the entire calendar year and listed your home as their official residence for the full year.

Qualifying relatives don't need to be related by blood or under a state-level marriage to be claimed as a dependent on your tax returns. You may claim a domestic partner as a dependent if they meet the qualifying relative rules from the IRS.

Relationship: Be your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, half-sister or -brother, stepbrother, stepsister, adopted child or the child of one of these. Age: Be under age 19 or under 24 if a full-time student, or any age if permanently and totally disabled.

Generally speaking, if your SSI-collecting dependent meets all other regulations required, you can legally claim them. That said, you must account for these benefits when considering their living expenses. Special needs individual can be any age and claimed as a dependent.

Adult dependents can't have a gross income of more than $4,700 in 2023 or more than $5,050 for 2024. If you follow all the guidelines and the adult meets the criteria, you can claim them as an adult dependent. This opens up the opportunity to claim additional tax deductions and credits.

Under tax reform, you can no longer claim a dependent exemption, but you still need to know who qualifies as your dependent for other tax benefits like the Other Dependent Credit worth up to $500 for those who are over 17 years old.

You may be able to claim your significant other as a dependent on your taxes if you pay for over 50% of their basic living expenses. Living expenses may include housing, groceries, education, medical expenses, and more.

A person cannot be claimed as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico, for some part of the year. (There is an exception for certain adopted children.) A dependent must be either a qualifying child or qualifying relative.

Key Takeaways. The Child Tax Credit can reduce your taxes by up to $2,000 per qualifying child age 16 or younger. If you do not owe taxes, up to $1,600 of the child tax credit may be refundable through the Additional Child Tax Credit for 2023.

Your child, grandchild, brother, or sister either by blood, marriage, common-law partnership, or adoption and under the age of 18 or suffered from a physical or mental impairment.

Can I claim my stay at home girlfriend as a dependent? ›

You must have paid more than half of your partner's living expenses during the calendar year for which you want to claim that person as a dependent. When calculating the total amount of support, you must include money and support that you and other people provided as well as the individual's own funds.

Include an unmarried domestic partner only if you have a child together or you'll claim your partner as a tax dependent. Don't include people you just live with — unless they're a spouse, tax dependent, or covered by another exception in this chart.

You would not be required to file a tax return. But you might want to file a return, because even though you are not required to pay taxes on your Social Security, you may be able to get a refund of any money withheld from your paycheck for taxes.

Can I claim him as a dependent? Answer: No, because your child would not meet the age test, which says your “qualifying child” must be under age 19 or 24 if a full-time student for at least 5 months out of the year. To be considered a “qualifying relative”, his income must be less than $5,050 in 2024 ($4,700 in 2023).

If the child is under 19 years old at the end of the tax year, they typically qualify as your dependent. Under 24 and a full-time student. If the child is a full-time student and less than 24 years old at the end of the tax year, they can still be claimed as a dependent. Permanently disabled.

Income Tax

When an unmarried couple cohabitates, both partners will need to file an individual tax return at the end of the year. Unmarried couples may not file a joint tax return. What's your first name?

Dependents are either a qualifying child or a qualifying relative of the taxpayer. The taxpayer's spouse cannot be claimed as a dependent. Some examples of dependents include a child, stepchild, brother, sister, or parent.

Question: My spouse has not worked all year except for one month, can I claim him as a dependent? Answer: You cannot claim a spouse as a dependent. However, if you file married filing jointly, you may have more tax benefits.