Dependents
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State benet payments like welfare, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), food stamps, or
housing assistance are generally considered support provided by the state, not by the taxpayer. A proposed rule on
which taxpayers may choose to rely treats governmental payments made to a recipient that the recipient uses, in
part, to support others as support of the others provided by the recipient, whereas any part of such payment used for
the support of the recipient would constitute support of the recipient by a third party. For example, if a mother receives
TANF and uses the TANF payments to support her children, the proposed regulations treat the mother as having
provided that support.
Social Security benets received by a child and used toward support are considered to have been provided by the
child.
A scholarship received by a child who is a student isn’t taken into account in determining whether the child provided
more than half of his or her own support.
Refer to the Worksheet for Determining Support in the Volunteer Resource Guide, Tab C, Dependents, or the
Dependents chapter of Publication 17.
Multiple Support Agreements (Form 2120)
Sometimes no one provided more than half the support of a person. Multiple support means that two or
more people who could claim the person as a dependent (except for the support test) together provide
more than half the dependent’s support. In this situation, the individuals who provide more than 10% of the
person’s total support, and who meet the other tests for a qualifying relative, can agree that one of them will
claim the person as a dependent for any applicable tax benets.
• The taxpayer claiming the dependent must le Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration or similar
statement, with the tax return.
• The other taxpayers providing over 10% of the person’s support must provide a written and signed
statement agreeing not to claim the dependent for that year. The person who claims the dependent
must keep a copy of this written statement as a record. A list of the statement requirements can be
found in Form 2120 Instructions.
Multiple Support Agreements apply only to a qualifying relative, not to a qualifying child.
If you can claim a person as a dependent only because of a multiple support agreement, that person isn’t a
qualifying person for Head of Household status.
example
Sherrie’s father received $2,700 from Social Security, but he put $300 of it in a savings account and
spent only $2,400 for his own support. Sherrie spent $2,600 of her income for his support, so she has
provided over half of his support.
example
Steve provided $4,000 toward his mother’s support during the year. His mother had nontaxable Social
Security benet payments of $4,800 and tax-exempt interest of $800. She used all of these for her
support. Steve’s mother provided more than half of her total support of $9,600. Therefore, Steve cannot
claim his mother as a dependent.
example
Fred’s father, Charlie, lives with him and receives 27% of his support from Social Security, 40% from
Fred, 24% from Charlie’s brother Ray, and 9% from one of Charlie’s friends. Charlie may be a qualifying
relative for either Fred or Ray because they each provided more than 10% of Charlie’s support, and
together contributed more than 50% toward his support. If they agree that Fred will claim Charlie as a
dependent, Ray will sign Form 2120 and Fred will attach the form to his tax return.