Roberto (22) lived with his father, Diego (45), all year in 2023. Roberto is Diego's qualifying child. In November 2023, Roberto married Valentina (21), and they both lived with Diego for the remainder of the year. Roberto is full-time student, he did not work, and he had no income. Valentina earned $3,400, all from wages, and had no other income. Valentina had $300 in federal income tax withheld from her paychecks during the year. Roberto and Valentina did not provide more than half of their own support. Which of the following statements is correct?

Question

Roberto (22) lived with his father, Diego (45), all year in 2023. Roberto is Diego's qualifying child. In November 2023, Roberto married Valentina (21), and they both lived with Diego for the remainder of the year. Roberto is full-time student, he did not work, and he had no income. Valentina earned $3,400, all from wages, and had no other income. Valentina had $300 in federal income tax withheld from her paychecks during the year. Roberto and Valentina did not provide more than half of their own support. Which of the following statements is correct?
 Diego may claim both Roberto and Valentina as his dependents.
 Diego may claim Valentina only if Roberto and Valentina do not file a joint return.
 Diego may claim Roberto even if Roberto and Valentina file a joint return to get a refund of the taxes withheld from Valentina's wages.
 Diego may not claim Roberto once he is married.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

In this scenario, let's analyze the statements based on IRS rules regarding dependents and tax implications for the year 2023:

Diego may claim both Roberto and Valentina as his dependents. - This statement is incorrect. Diego can claim Roberto as a qualifying child dependent since he meets the age, relationship, residency, and support tests. However, Diego cannot claim Valentina as a dependent because she is married to Roberto, and being married typically disqualifies someone from being a dependent unless they meet specific conditions (like being a qualifying relative which does not apply here).
Diego may claim Valentina only if Roberto and Valentina do not file a joint return. - This statement is incorrect. Even if Roberto and Valentina decided to not file a joint return, Valentina does not meet the requirements to be a dependent of Diego since she is not his child or qualifying relative, and therefore, independent of the filing status of Roberto and Valentina, Diego cannot claim Valentina as a dependent.
Diego may claim Roberto even if Roberto and Valentina file a joint return to get a refund of the taxes withheld from Valentina's wages. - This statement is correct. Roberto is Diego’s qualifying child, and the IRS rules allow Diego to claim Roberto as a dependent even if Roberto and Valentina file a joint return solely for the purpose of claiming a refund of Valentina's taxes withheld. This is because filing jointly does not disqualify Roberto as a qualifying child dependent.
Diego may not claim Roberto once he is married. - This statement is incorrect. Being married does not disqualify Roberto from being his father's dependent as he is still under the qualifying child criteria, which includes being under 24, a full-time student, and living with Diego for more than half the year.

In summary, the correct statement is: Diego may claim Roberto even if Roberto and Valentina file a joint return to get a refund of the taxes withheld from Valentina's wages.

Answer

There are many rules to comply with when claiming dependents. Which of the following is one of them?
The dependent must not file a joint return with their spouse, without exception.
The dependent must live with the taxpayer all year and have no income.
A taxpayer who is a dependent of another taxpayer may not claim any dependents.
A resident of the United States, Canada, or Mexico may be a dependent but not a U.S. resident alien.

GPT-4o mini · Answer

Let’s evaluate each of the provided statements regarding the rules for claiming dependents:

The dependent must not file a joint return with their spouse, without exception. - This statement is incorrect. While generally, a dependent cannot file a joint return with their spouse for a reason other than claiming a refund of withheld taxes, there is an exception in that if the couple files jointly solely to claim a refund, the taxpayer may still claim the dependent.
The dependent must live with the taxpayer all year and have no income. - This statement is incorrect. For a qualifying child, they must live with the taxpayer for more than half the year, but there are cases where dependents can have some income—there's no requirement that a dependent must have no income at all.
A taxpayer who is a dependent of another taxpayer may not claim any dependents. - This statement is correct. A taxpayer who is claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return generally cannot claim any dependents themselves. This is a rule set by the IRS to prevent multiple claims.
A resident of the United States, Canada, or Mexico may be a dependent but not a U.S. resident alien. - This statement is incorrect. A U.S. resident alien can be claimed as a dependent if they meet the other criteria for being a qualifying child or qualifying relative.

In conclusion, the correct statement among the options provided is: A taxpayer who is a dependent of another taxpayer may not claim any dependents.