dependent status

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Subject Author Date dependent status dgm 03-27-2009  Re: dependent status Stuart A. Bronstein 03-27-2009  Re: dependent status Harlan Lunsford 03-27-2009  Re: dependent status Dick Adams 03-27-2009
Posted by dgm on March 27, 2009, 2:58 pm Please log in for more thread options My nephew and his fiance had a baby together last year. They bought a house and moved in together in May. She is 18 years old and does not work outside the home. He lives in SC, if that will make a diffeence. Can he claim her as a dependent on his tax return this year even though they are not yet married? ------------------------------------- ##-----------------------------------------------## Newsgroup Access Courtesy http://www.rockryno.com/ Tax and Accounting Software Forums Web and RSS access to your favorite newsgroup - misc.taxes.moderated - 21079 messages and counting! ##-----------------------------------------------## -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Stuart A. Bronstein on March 27, 2009, 3:18 pm Please log in for more thread options sparkygirl38_at_hotmail_dot_com@foo.com (dgm) wrote: > My nephew and his fiance had a baby together last year. They > bought a house and moved in together in May. She is 18 years old > and does not work outside the home. He lives in SC, if that will > make a diffeence. Can he claim her as a dependent on his tax > return this year even though they are not yet married? Apparently SC is a common-law marriage state. From what I've seen, to be married there all they need is the intent to be married. If they've ever told or implied to anyone that they were married, then they may well be. And if they're not considered married now, if they file a joint tax return that may just do it for them. Stu -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Harlan Lunsford on March 27, 2009, 5:12 pm Please log in for more thread options Stuart A. Bronstein wrote: > sparkygirl38_at_hotmail_dot_com@foo.com (dgm) wrote: > >> My nephew and his fiance had a baby together last year. They >> bought a house and moved in together in May. She is 18 years old >> and does not work outside the home. He lives in SC, if that will >> make a diffeence. Can he claim her as a dependent on his tax >> return this year even though they are not yet married? > > Apparently SC is a common-law marriage state. From what I've seen, to > be married there all they need is the intent to be married. If they've > ever told or implied to anyone that they were married, then they may > well be. > > And if they're not considered married now, if they file a joint tax > return that may just do it for them. > > Stu > Maybe SC IS a common law state, but that doesn't mean they want to represent themselves as married. However to the OP, if she were a member of his household for the ENTIRE year, he may claim her as a dependent. ChEAr$, Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Dick Adams on March 27, 2009, 5:30 pm Please log in for more thread options > sparkygirl38_at_hotmail_dot_com@foo.com (dgm) wrote: >> My nephew and his fiance had a baby together last year. They >> bought a house and moved in together in May. She is 18 years old >> and does not work outside the home. He lives in SC, if that will >> make a diffeence. Can he claim her as a dependent on his tax >> return this year even though they are not yet married? > Apparently SC is a common-law marriage state. From what I've seen, > to be married there all they need is the intent to be married. If > they've ever told or implied to anyone that they were married, then > they may well be. > > And if they're not considered married now, if they file a joint tax > return that may just do it for them. Since they moved in together in May 2008, she is NOT his dependent. Rule is "all year". If their child was born on or before 12/31/2008, he can file as Unmarried Head of Household. Otherwise he has to file single. There is a Utah case where the IRS sucessfully challenged a common law marriage on the grounds that there had never been a "Present Tense" agreement to be married. I am the high priest of "Living in Sin for Fun and Profit". Living in sin can be better than being married. It is well-known that you get treated better before marriage than afterwards. My Mothers-in-Law treated me like the catch of a lifetime before I married their daughter. After marriage, they both became the "Mother-in-Law from Hell". I presume ending a non-marital relationship is less costly financially and emotionally. So my advice is do not get married unless you want to be married and tax purposes is not usually a sound reason to get married. Dick -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Similar Threads Posted can a dependent file married-joint status ? February 27, 2007, 3:17 pm dependent daycare FSA and dependent care credit February 12, 2010, 10:26 am Filing Status? February 10, 2007, 6:05 am Moderator: Status May 14, 2007, 9:24 pm Moderator: Status May 16, 2007, 10:38 pm Moderator: Status May 24, 2007, 11:36 pm W8-BEN and change of status November 23, 2008, 5:08 pm UK non-resident status. 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