Life changes
Supporting an Aging Parent: What It Can Mean on Your Return
If you pay most of a parent’s living costs, they may be your dependent even if they do not live with you. That can change your filing status as well as your credits.
Reviewed by LaToya Clark-Thompson, FounderLast updated
Can your parent be your dependent?
A parent is claimed as a qualifying relative, which has four main tests:
- Relationship: parents, stepparents and grandparents qualify, and they do not have to live with you.
- Gross income: your parent’s gross income (income that is not exempt from tax) must be below a limit the IRS sets each year. Social Security that is not taxable usually does not count toward it, which is why many retirees on Social Security alone pass.
- Support: you must provide more than half of your parent’s total support for the year, counting housing, food, utilities, medical care and similar costs. Money your parent spends on themselves, including their own Social Security, counts as their support, not yours.
- No one else claims them, and they are not filing a joint return with a spouse.
When siblings share the cost and no one pays more than half, a multiple support agreement (Form 2120) can let one of you claim the parent, if the group together pays more than half and the claimer pays a meaningful share.
What changes on your return
- The credit for other dependents, a smaller credit than the child tax credit, for a parent who qualifies
- Head of household status, if you are unmarried and pay more than half the cost of keeping up your parent’s home (it does not have to be your home)
- Medical expenses you pay for a dependent parent can be added to yours if you itemize, subject to the same income-based floor
- The child and dependent care credit for adult day care or in-home care, if your parent lived with you more than half the year, cannot care for themselves, and the care lets you work
Your parent may still need to file their own return even if you claim them. They just cannot claim themselves.
What to bring to your appointment
- Your parent’s Social Security number and date of birth
- Your parent’s Form SSA-1099, any Form 1099-R and other income records, for the gross income test
- A rough breakdown of who paid what: rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, medical bills, insurance premiums
- Receipts for medical costs and long-term care you paid directly
- Caregiver or adult day care invoices with the provider’s tax ID
- Any signed Form 2120 from siblings
Common mistakes
- Counting your parent’s own Social Security spending as support you provided
- Two siblings both claiming the same parent
- Missing head of household status because the parent lives in their own home, when the rule allows it if you pay most of that home’s costs
- Paying an in-home caregiver directly without thinking about household employer rules, which can mean payroll tax obligations for you
When it is worth having a preparer
The support test is a calculation, not a feeling, and it is easy to get wrong in either direction. If you are splitting costs with siblings, paying a caregiver, or helping with a parent’s own return as well, it is worth bringing both returns to us at once. We can prepare yours and your parent’s together and make sure they line up. If your parent has also just started drawing benefits, see starting Social Security. Start with tax preparation.
Frequently asked questions
Can I claim my mom as a dependent if she gets Social Security?
Often, yes. Social Security that is not taxable generally does not count toward the gross income test, so a parent living on benefits alone may pass it. The harder test is support: you must pay more than half her total living costs, and the Social Security she spends on herself counts as her own support. We work through both tests with your numbers.
Does my parent have to live with me for me to claim them?
No. Parents are one of the relatives who can be claimed without living in your home, as long as the income and support tests are met. You can even file as head of household for an unmarried parent who lives elsewhere, including in an assisted living facility, if you pay more than half the cost of keeping up that home.
Can I deduct my parent’s nursing home costs?
If your parent is your dependent, or would be except for the income test, medical costs you pay for them can be added to your own medical expenses. Those count only if you itemize and the total passes a floor tied to your income. Nursing home costs are generally medical when the main reason for being there is medical care. Bring the invoices and proof of who paid.
How do siblings decide who claims a parent?
If one of you pays more than half of the parent’s support, that person claims them. If no one does, but together you pay more than half, a multiple support agreement on Form 2120 lets you choose one sibling who paid a meaningful share. The others sign statements giving up the claim for that year, and you can rotate in later years.
Not the question you had? The full tax FAQ covers more ground, and our client reviews say what the work is actually like.
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