Can I still claim my disabled brother?

Question

My brother is disabled and has been living with me for the past two years. I successfully claimed him for the EIC credit as a disabled dependant on my 2008 return. My brother has been in the process of getting approved by the social security administration for his disability benefits since his court hearing in early Oct. He was officially approved by the court as totally disabled on Dec 11th 2009 in a letter we received fro the court.

Much to our surprise, we received two SSI checks in the mail today(12/31/2009); one for $430.00, and a backpayment check of $2000.00.

Since these two checks were dated within the 2009 tax year, do they in anyway affect my ability to still claim my brother as head of household, and with him as being a disabled dependant for the EIC credit as a qualifying child for the 2009 tax year?

Bostonian In MO · Accepted Answer

2009 should not be a problem.  Going forward will require a bit of math, but unless your cost of living is very low you should still be OK.

You can claim him under the Qualifying Child rule as long as he is totally and permanently disabled AND he does not provide more than half of his own support.  Assuming that the $430 per month stays static, take 1/2 of your rent (or the fair rental value of your home if you own) plus 1/2 of your utilities and half of all of the other costs of running the household, along with any direct out-of-pocket costs for his care and if that totals more than $860 a month you should be in pretty good shape.  (I live in a small town in the Midwest with a low cost of living and my numbers are quite a bit higher than that so unless you are WAY out in the sticks somewhere you should be good-to-go.)

At some point in the future he may be picked up by Medicare and/or Medicaid for health care.  You'll have to use a "fudge factor" there for the medical care but the average cost of a commercial health insurance policy through employers in the area should be a reasonable estimate.  Run the numbers again and see where you sit.  Ideally, if you have health insurance through your job that would cover him that shifts the healthcare cost to your side of the ledger which would pretty much preserve the exemption for as long as he's disalbed and you can cover him under your policy.

Anonymous · Answer

There are sure a lot of wrong, or partially wrong, answers here to your question. As long as you provide more than half of his support and his gross income is not over $3300 for the year, then yes you can claim him as a dependent under the circumstances you mention. His SSI does NOT count as gross income for the gross income test, but if he uses it toward his own support, it does count in determining whether you provide half of his support. Since he's your brother, there is no requirement that he live with you for you to claim him as a qualifying relative.

Sharon T · Answer

You are OK for 2009 because that money didn't get spent for his support during 2009.  Do not expect to be able to continue claiming him into 2010.

Judge Julie · Answer

For the two points - I suggest you discuss these problems with a tax preparer.

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Can I still claim my disabled brother?

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