Relationship Test

• The IRS treats certain family members as a qualifying relative for tax purposes regardless of where that person lives. A qualifying relative includes anyone who is a child, stepchild, foster child, grandchild, sibling, step and foster siblings, parents, stepparents, grandparents, nieces and nephews, great aunts and uncles and in-laws who do not otherwise qualify as a dependent child due to age restrictions.
  
  

Gross Income Test

• You cannot claim a parent as a dependent if they have annual gross income of $3,650 or more. When assessing the gross income of a parent, you can exclude amounts that are exempt from federal taxes. Gross income does include income a parent receives in the form of property or services. Parents who receive a monthly Social Security benefit exclude the entire amount from gross income. Therefore, the monthly payment will not affect your ability to claim the parent as a dependent.
  
  

Support Test

• Claiming a parent as a tax dependent requires that you provide at least half of the necessary financial support during any tax year you take the exemption. However, if you share the financial responsibility of supporting a parent with other siblings, you can alternate who takes the dependency exemption each year. To qualify, each sibling must provide at least 10 percent of the parent's financial support and sign an agreement allowing one sibling to take the deduction for the respective tax year. Support includes the amount you spend to provide the parent with food, lodging, clothing, education, medical and dental care, recreation, transportation and other necessary expenses. However, if the parent subsidizes these expenses by providing you with tax-exempt income, such as Social Security, you do not count those amounts as support you provide.
  
  

Parent's Marital Status

• If the parent you want to claim as a dependent is married and files a joint tax return, you may not claim that parent as a dependent. The fact that the parent lives apart from a spouse or that you provide 100 percent of the financial support is irrelevant.
  
  

Taxpayer's Dependency Status

• If another taxpayer is eligible to claim you as a dependent, you are precluded from claiming anyone, including parents, as a dependent on your tax return. You are also precluded from taking the dependency exemption if you file a joint return and another taxpayer is eligible to claim the spouse as a dependent. It is irrelevant whether the eligible individual actually claims you as a dependent on a tax return.