Publication 3 |
2000 Tax Year |
Exemptions
Exemptions reduce your income before you figure your tax. For 2000,
you generally can deduct $2,800 for each exemption you claim for
yourself, your spouse, and each person who qualifies as your
dependent. If another taxpayer can claim an exemption for you or your
spouse, you cannot claim the exemption on your tax return. If you can
claim an exemption for a dependent, that dependent cannot claim an
exemption on his or her tax return.
To claim an exemption for a dependent on your tax return, you must
list either the social security number (SSN), individual taxpayer
identification number (ITIN), or adoption taxpayer identification
number (ATIN)) for each person for whom you claim an exemption.
If you do not list the dependent's SSN, ITIN, or ATIN, the
exemption may be disallowed.
Dependents
You can claim an exemption for your dependent if all five of the
following tests are met:
- Member of household or relationship test.
- Citizen or resident test.
- Joint return test.
- Gross income test.
- Support test.
For specific information on these tests, get Publication 501.
To meet the member of household or relationship test, the person
must either:
- Be related to you in one of the ways listed under
Relatives who do not live with you, in Publication 501,
or
- Be a member of your household for the entire year.
Even if the other dependency tests are met, you are not allowed an
exemption for your dependent if he or she files a joint return.
To meet the gross income test, the person must have gross income of
less than $2,800. This test does not apply if the person is your child
and is either under age 19 at the end of the year, or a full-time
student under age 24 at the end of the year.
The citizen or resident test and the support test are of special
interest to members of the Armed Forces.
Citizen or Resident Test
To be considered your dependent, the person must be a U.S. citizen
or resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
Your child.
Children are usually citizens or residents of the country of their
parents.
Child born in a foreign country.
If you were a U.S. citizen when your child was born, the child may
be considered a U.S. citizen for tax purposes. This applies even if
the other parent was a nonresident alien (see Alien Status,
earlier) and the child was born in a foreign country.
Child living abroad.
You can claim your child's exemption if the child is a U.S. citizen
and meets the other tests. It does not matter that the child lives
abroad with the nonresident alien parent.
Legally adopted child.
If you are a citizen or national of the United States and you
legally adopt a child who is not a U.S. citizen or resident, you can
claim the child's exemption if:
- The other tests are met,
- The child had your home as his or her main home for the
year, and
- The child was a member of your household for the
year.
Example.
Sergeant John Smith is a U.S. citizen and has been in the U.S. Army
for 16 years. He is stationed in Germany. He and his wife, a German
citizen, have a 2-year-old son who was born in Germany and who has
dual citizenship--U.S. and German. Sergeant Smith's stepdaughter,
a German citizen whom Sergeant Smith has not adopted, also lives with
them. Only his son can be considered a U.S. citizen for whom a
dependency exemption can be claimed. His stepdaughter does not qualify
as a U.S. citizen or resident.
Graphic
Support Test
To be considered your dependent, the person must receive more than
half his or her support from you during the year. To figure if you
provided more than half the support of a person, you must first
determine the total support provided from all sources for that person.
Total support includes amounts spent to provide food, lodging,
clothing, education, medical and dental care, recreation,
transportation, and similar necessities.
Generally, the amount of an item of support is the cost to provide
it. If the item is property or lodging, the amount of the item is the
rent paid or its fair rental value.
Expenses that are not directly related to any one member of a
household, such as the cost of food for the household, must be divided
among members of the household.
Divorced or separated parents.
Different rules apply to the support test for children of divorced
or separated parents. These rules are discussed in Publication 501.
Dependency allotments.
You can authorize an allotment from your pay for the support of
your dependents. The amount is considered as provided by you in
figuring whether you provide more than half the dependent's support.
If an allotment is used to support persons other than those you
name, you can claim their exemptions if they otherwise qualify as your
dependent.
Example.
Army Sergeant Jeff Banks authorizes an allotment for his widowed
mother. She uses the money to support herself and Jeff's 10-year-old
sister. If that amount provides more than half their support, Jeff can
claim an exemption for each of them, if they otherwise qualify, even
though he only authorized the allotment for his mother.
Dependent in the Armed Forces.
Generally, an exemption cannot be claimed for a person who is in
the Armed Forces or is at one of the Armed Forces academies for the
entire year because the support test will not have been met. However,
if your dependent receives only partial support from the Armed Forces,
you can still claim the exemption if you provided more than half his
or her support and the other tests are met.
Example.
Leslie James is 18 and single. She graduated from high school in
June 2000 and entered the U.S. Air Force in September 2000. Leslie
provided $4,400 (her wages of $3,400 and $1,000 for other items
provided by the Air Force) for her support that year. Her parents
provided $4,100. Her parents cannot claim a dependency exemption for
her for 2000 because they did not provide more than half her support.
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