question archive In the current tax year, Blake Smith provided more than half of the support for his cousin, niece, and a close family friend
In the current tax year, Blake Smith provided more than half of the support for his cousin, niece, and a close family friend
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In the current tax year, Blake Smith provided more than half of the support for his cousin, niece, and a close family friend. Blake lives alone and sends a monthly sup- port check to each person. None of the individuals whom Blake supports has any income or files a tax return. All three individuals are U.S. citizens. Which of the three people Blake supports can he claim as a dependent on his tax return?
a. Cousin
b. Niece
c. Family friend
d. None
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Answer:
DEPENDENT: A dependent is a person other than a taxpayer or spouse who entitles the taxpayer to claim dependency exemption.
The term 'dependent' means a 'qualifying child' or a 'qualifying relative'.
To claim a dependency exemption for a qualifying child or a qualifying relative, relationship test must be qualified.
Cousin doesn't qualify as a relative.
Niece is qualified as a child.
Family friend is neither a qualifying child nor a qualifying relative.
NOTE: It is assumed that all other tests are qualified to claim as a dependent, i.e, dependent taxpayer test, joint return test, citizen or resident test, support test, age test(only for qualifying child) and Gross income test (only for qualifying relative)
From the above discussion, we can conclude that out of the three (cousin , niece and family friend) only NIECE can be claimed as dependent.(If all other tests are qualified)
Answer: (B) NIECE
