Non Immigration Related(Tax filing questions)

G

GCkachakar

Registered Users (C)
Hey everyone,

Sorry to post a non immigration related question.
Considering the Vastly knowledgeable people we have on this board can't resist asking a simple question.

Can you show your parents as dependent on your tax return.
My parents are in India. And was wondring is there any way to do this.

Any help will be really greatfull.

Thanks
Regards.
 
NO WAY as joint filer , But if you file as Head of house hold yes.. but you need to itemize all those deductions.Lot of work is required
check in webiste for more updates for this year at www.irs.gov

But there is one more way , Purchase a flat for them pay the mortage and deduct all the premiums and interst, in foriegn income and expenses sheet. Consult the Account for this .
i did this previously . Harldy you will get some portion of the amount back.I thought is good.Because some thing is better than nothing .
 
Originally posted by canus_immi
NO WAY as joint filer , But if you file as Head of house hold yes.. but you need to itemize all those deductions.Lot of work is required
Click to expand...

Any dependent you claim must have either an SSN or an ITIN.

Your chances of getting an ITIN for a resident of India are pretty close to zero.
 
TheRealCanadian

Originally posted by TheRealCanadian

Your chances of getting an ITIN for a resident of India are pretty close to zero.
Click to expand...


Can you please explain your statement above? Is there a reason why you singled out residents of India?

Thanks
 
Re: TheRealCanadian

Originally posted by WheresMahGreen
Can you please explain your statement above? Is there a reason why you singled out residents of India?
Click to expand...

The original poster said his parents lived in India. Getting an ITIN or SSN for any non-resident of the US is pretty much impossible.
 
Originally posted by GCkachakar
I like the idea of purchasing the flat there. I'll try that.
Click to expand...

You're missing the point. You cannot claim anyone as a dependent unless they have either an ITIN or an SSN. Work on getting Mom and Dad one of those before you buy them a house, unless you were planning on doing so anyway.
 
TheRealCanadian,

Your statement is very interesting.


I have a brother who is studing MS here in US on F-1 visa. I beleive he has a SSN or TIN.

Also he is not working here and does not have any income.

I have spent almost 15 K last year ( 10K in fee and another 5k in boarding and lodging)

Do you think I can add him as dependent when I file the taxes ?

Thanks
 
No , You cannot claim him as ur dependant.
As RealCandain said , you can claim ur parents as dependents if they have SSN or ITIN.
But you have to file as head of house hold , All those things you have to claim in form of itemize deductions. But Regarding flat, it is a foreign invsetments, you can claim the taxes and all those things. Becarefule you need to file also if you earn any income on that.

Regarding the money you paid to your brother as per as i know u cannot claim in ur taxes. He is not eligble for that. But check if there is any chance that u can show that he borrowed that money from u and paying premium to u back. If you can manage this then u can claim all the some portion of the amount (First 1000$ is refundable and next onwards will 50 % ) Because i spent money on my wife education i got every thing back .we planned in such way that we will get every thing She took the classes in one of the county college
 
Pingpong02

I do not think you can claim your parents as your dependents because of the following reasons

1) they do not have SS# or ITIN

2) An exemption can be claimed for each person who qualifies as a dependent. To qualify as a dependent, an individual must be a citizen, national or resident of the US, or resident of Canada or Mexico at some time during the calendar year - if your parents are living in India and they are not US citizen or GC holder, they won't qualify.

Nothing to do with your filing status... (you can claim them as your dependents even your filing status is Single).
 
You can get ITIN to your parents if

they visit US and stay here more than six months and if they applied for ITIN while they were here. One of my friend did like this. His parents were here and stayed more than six months (extended their Tourist Visa) and applied for ITIN. He claimed them as dependents saying that he needs to support them. I am not sure whether he filed as Head Of HouseHold or not. One of Desi CPA gave him that suggestion that he can claim them as dependents if they have ITIN.

He got very good tax break..
 
There really is more to this than just counting the days they are here too. I used to prepare tax returns for foreign nationals and there are a lot of complicated rules surrounding these issues.

The residency thing would be your first issue. Hana is correct with his/her statement.

You will find that the IRS does particularly like it if you try all sorts of schemes to lower your tax. Having them move over here for the time that you think would satisfy residency, might raise a red flag with the IRS and trigger an audit for you.

Bottom line - I would talk to a tax professional or go to www.irs.gov to get a clearer understanding of the rules. I would also work out if it is all worth it to claim them as dependents.

Good luck! :)
 
You need to satisfy the residency rule to claim them as dependents. It is more than 180 days of stay in a particular calendar year or the cumulative of the days for a calendar year and a fraction (the fraction increases backwards) of the total number of days the previous years should be greater than 180.
 
ITIN

Please read the instructions accompanying the W-7 form to determine the eligibility criteria for applying for an ITIN for a non-resident alien.
Blanket statements such as those posted by TheRealCanadian are misleading and inaccurate.
Obtaining an ITIN requires that a person to file a tax return and is ineligible to obtain a SSN. This maybe true even if the person draws passive income (rent, dividends, interest etc) in a region under US tax jurisdiction. Alternately, spouses of citizens and permanent residents are eligible to obtain an ITIN if they are otherwise ineligible to obtain an SSN and if they will be claimed as exemption or will be filing a joint US tax return.
 
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