If someone (other than a qualifying child) who lives with me and is unemployed, can I claim he or she as a Dependent Relative?

Answer

Maybe. You might be able to claim the person as Qualifying Relative Dependent. To do so, all of these requirements must true:

The person is your relative or your spouses (if married filing jointly) or has lived with you the entire year (365 days).
The person’s gross income was less than $4,150.
You paid more than half of the person’s support for the year.
The person isn’t a qualifying child of any other taxpayer.
The person isn’t filing a joint return, unless it’s only to claim a refund of taxes withheld or estimated taxes paid. Also, there would be no tax liability for either the person or the person’s spouse if filing separate returns.
The person is one of these:
- U.S. citizen
- U.S. national
- Resident of the United States, Canada, or Mexico
You (or your spouse) can’t be claimed as a dependent.