Can I claim my child as a dependent on my Federal Return, but not on my Maryland Return?

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
March 31, 2024
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I get no benefit from Maryland for dependents (I make too much), but my child is getting hosed on their small income. I want to claim my child on my federal return, but not on my state return, and my child's federal return will show them as my dependent, but on their state return they will not be a dependent. Can I do this?

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Best answer by SonomaOak

I found the answer to my question by going to other resources.

For anyone else with the same question, it is not possible to claim a child as dependent on your federal return, but not claim them as dependent on your Maryland return. In Maryland, if you are listed as a dependent on someone else's Federal return (i.e. you parents), then you must list yourself as being a dependent on your own state return.

SonomaOakAuthorAnswer

I found the answer to my question by going to other resources.

avjunior

This whole area of 'can' someone be claimed as a dependent and 'have' they been claimed seems overly confusing to me. Experts here are unanimous in saying if a child can be claimed as a dependent then the box on the child's 1040 that says "Someone can claim: You as a dependent" must be checked even if no one claims the child.

Now what about MD? MD says the child's filing status must be the same as the 1040. But on the 1040 the filing status is 'Single'. There are two choices for single on the MD 502- box 1 single, and box 6 dependent taxpayer. However box 1 says "if you can be claimed on another person's tax return use Filing Status 6". But if on the child's return box 6 is checked they can't have an exemption, which significantly raises their tax

I would naively assume if the parent doesn't claim on federal (losing $500) or MD (in my case losing nothing) then the child should be able to check box 1 and get the exemption. I also don't know how to get a definitive answer to this.

avjunior

I would just like to add to my previous post that the MD code seems to provide different answers under the sections for resident and non-resident filers. The 'resident' section says "may be claimed". The 'non-resident' section says "claimed".

Section 03.04.02.02 - Resident Filing Status:

B. An individual who is single and may be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer's return shall use the filing status "dependent taxpayer".

Section 03.04.02.03 - Nonresident Filing Status:

D. Single Dependent. "Dependent taxpayer" filing status shall be used by each individual who is:

(1) Single;

(2) Claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer; and

(3) Required to file a State income tax return.