Questions about tax reporting for my parent who is soon to be a green card holder

L

lochness1989

New Member
Hello,

Currently my mother is a Brazilian citizen. We have just applied for her to become a "permanent resident" ( green card holder ) and i'm trying to understanding what to expect come tax reporting when she has her green card. Below are some of the questions i have.

1. She has never worked in brazil but is receiving a pension through her husband which is very small. This is literally her only source of income and equates to $5,988 per year. Is she still required to file an income tax return on this amount?
2. Since i filled out a I-864 ( affidavit of support ) for her, do i have to claim her as a dependent on my tax return?
3. Can she file her own tax return ( not as a dependent on my tax return ) or is she not eligible for this?
4. What extra tax forms ( that are required for expats) will i need to learn about for her with the above given data.
 
1. You need to read the conditions in the 1040 instructions section "Do You Have To File?" to determine whether she is required to file. Usually people whose income is less than the standard deduction are not required to file, but there are exceptions (e.g. people with self-employment income, etc.). Also, sometimes one can get money back if they file even if they are not required to file, so it is a good idea to calculate the tax anyway.

2. No. Whether you can claim someone as a dependent is determined by the rules described in 1040 instructions section "Who Qualifies as Your Dependent". Since she is not your child and had more than $4-5k in income, she would generally not be able to be claimed by anyone as a dependent.

3. Whether she files her own tax return and whether she can be claimed as a dependent are two independent things. Someone who can be claimed as a dependent can (and sometimes should) file their own tax return (they would just check the box saying someone can claim them as a dependent).

4. If she has foreign-source income and it is taxed by a foreign country, then she can claim Foreign Tax Credit on her US taxes. However, given that she probably has no US tax on her low amount of income anyway, there is no point. Also, if she has foreign bank accounts of more than $10,000, she would need to file FBAR.
 
2. No. Whether you can claim someone as a dependent is determined by the rules described in 1040 instructions section "Who Qualifies as Your Dependent". Since she is not your child and had more than $4-5k in income, she would generally not be able to be claimed by anyone as a dependent
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So even though we support her financially ( she lives in our house and we buy the food she eats etc. ) she cannot be claimed as a dependent because of her income from her Brazilian pension which exceeds $4,400. is this correct?

Also, since she makes below the filing threshold of $12,950 she would not need to file a tax return correct?
 
Hey @newacct ,

Our main goal is to get my mother in a position so that she can not be dependent and have enough income in order to get assistance with Obama Care (ACA) via a subsidy. Ultimately, we are just wanting to have her report her income via a tax return to indicate she is paying taxes and how much she is making. That being said, is this a scenario that is considered doable by the IRS:

My mother, who lives with us, will watch our kids while my husband and myself work. We will pay her what would equate to $16,000 a year.

1. Would my mother be able to file a tax return to the IRS and pay taxes on this amount? Would the IRS accept this as a valid form of documented income for an individual?
2. What other forms, besides 1040 would she need to file out?
3. Would I ( the person paying her ) need to do anything specific or fill out any specific forms?
 
If you are referring to the fact that the subsidy (Premium Tax Credit) is normally for people with income between 100% and 400% of the poverty level, if she is ineligible for Medicaid in her state due to immigration status, then she can get the subsidy even if her income is below 100% of the poverty level.
 
newacct said:
If you are referring to the fact that the subsidy (Premium Tax Credit) is normally for people with income between 100% and 400% of the poverty level, if she is ineligible for Medicaid in her state due to immigration status, then she can get the subsidy even if her income is below 100% of the poverty level.
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What i'm trying to understand is if she is ALLOWED to report income, via a tax return, if i employee her and she has a relationship to me ( she is my mother and she lives in the same house ) along with what responsibilities i would have when i go to report my own taxes at the end of the year.

When i called healthcare.gov the ONLY way should we be able to get assistance was if she met the "minimum income requirement" which was 14-15k. In order to get the subsidy it would come as a tax credit so she would get it come time she has to report taxes.
 
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