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Employee
June 1, 2019
Solved

Can i claim my ITIN girlfriend

  • June 1, 2019
  • 1 reply
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My brother has been separated for over 10 years so I've been filing, Married filing Separately. Last year (2017) his long time girlfriend and him had a son. I'm claiming the son as a dependent. The girlfriend took off the last year to raise their son. She has an ITIN and has no wages for FY 2018. Can he claim her as a dependent as well?

Best answer by Hal_Al

Yes, if she lived with him ALL year, in the U.S.

A person can still be a Qualifying relative** dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:

1. Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year

2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4150 ($4,050 in 2016-17)

3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support

4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico

5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own

6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer

He must have a US social security number or tax identification number (TIN)

**There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, a relationship test and a residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit.

1 reply

Hal_Al
Hal_AlAnswer
Employee
June 1, 2019

Yes, if she lived with him ALL year, in the U.S.

A person can still be a Qualifying relative** dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:

1. Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year

2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4150 ($4,050 in 2016-17)

3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support

4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico

5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own

6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer

He must have a US social security number or tax identification number (TIN)

**There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, a relationship test and a residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit.

cmkimselAuthor
Employee
June 1, 2019
Thank you, this is absolutely an amazing start. Follow up question:

5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own

For the second part of #5, will he lose the Child Tax Credit by adding her? We want to keep the QC dependent as he is their son together.