Question

Dan Caldwell was married on January 15, 2014. His wife, Catherine, is a full-time student at the university and earns $625 a month working in the library. How many personal exemptions will Dan and Catherine be able to claim on their joint return? Would it make any difference if Catherine’s parents paid for more than 50 percent of her support? Explain. ?

Answer 1

Answer/explanation

Dan and Catherine may each claim a personal exemption on their return. If they file a joint return, they would claim two exemptions.

One general requirement to claim a dependent is that the dependent may not file a joint return. Thus, if Dan and Catherine file a joint return, Catherine’s parents may not claim her as a dependent regardless of amount of support they provide. If Catherine and Dan elected to file as married filing separately, then Catherine’s parents would be able to claim her as a “qualified child” dependent as long as she is under 23 years old. If she is over 23 than she would not qualify as “qualified child”. She could not qualify as a “qualified relative” since her gross income is over the amount of a personal exemption i.e. $3950 in 2014