- quote -

Yes, David, your reply was correct, but did not answer the
question. The question: Are these benefits taxable to the
fathe? The answer is no, since the father is not the
recipient.

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- quote -

I stand by my comment and would submit to you that the
children are in fact the recipients of the benefits.

--
David M. Woods, EA
Boston, MA 02109

Postings here are general information only and not to be
relied upon as advice.

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- quote -

Your reply is rather misleading. The question was whether
the children's social security is taxable income to the
father. And it is not. It could be taxable income to the
children, but that would require that the children had quite
a bit of other income.

Vida Freeman

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"GJM" <glenmac[at]ptd.net> wrote:

- quote -

The money is paid to him for his kids. Probably the forms
from the Social Security Administration he will get shortly
after January 1, 2004, will have each of the kids names and
Social Security numbers on them and the money will not be
taxed to your brother.

Wayne Brasch, CPA, M. S. Taxation

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"GJM" <glenmac[at]ptd.net> wrote:

- quote -

No, it's not taxable to the father. The social security
survivor's benefits would be taxable to the children if any
of them had enough other income to cause the social security
benefits to be taxable. However, if the social security
benefits are the only income each child has, none of it will
be taxable to them.

There is the related issue of whether or not the father
qualifies to claim dependency exemptions for the children.
Since the social security survivor's benefits are considered
to be each child's own income, assuming those benefits are
being used for their support, each child very well may be
providing more than half of his or her own support. If
that's the case, the dependency support test is not met by
the father and he therefore cannot claim dependency
exemptions for the children on his return. That also means
he cannot claim the $1,000 a head child tax credit.

Barney Byrd

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"GJM" <glenmac[at]ptd.net> wrote:

- quote -

The rules for taxability of social security apply no matter
who the recipient is.

--
David M. Woods, EA
Boston, MA 02109

Postings here are general information only and not to be
relied upon as advice.

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GJM <glenmac[at]ptd.net> wrote:

- quote -

No, it is the kids' income. However if he claims the kids
as his dependents, the social security they receive is
counted towards determining if he furnished more than half
their support. He generally must furnish more than social
security does.

__
Art Kamlet ArtKamlet [at] AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH

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GJM wrote:

- quote -

the short answer is "no, not taxable".

But why not? Because he is only receiving it as a conduit.
It belongs to the kids and will be reported under their
ssn's.

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA in LA

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"GJM" <glenmac[at]ptd.net> wrote:

- quote -

The SS Income is the kids'. If their income is high enough,
it's taxable to them, but it is not taxable to him.

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- quote -

The money for the kids will be reported under the SSN that
belongs to each child. So he does not report it on his tax
return.

Helen, EA in PA
Member of The Tax Gang
President, PA Society of Enrolled Agents
Campaigning for NAEA Board of Directors - Looking for YOUR vote

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Asking for my brother. He recently lost his wife and has 3
young kids, 13, 11, and 8. He is receiving SS income for
support of the kids. Is this taxable income to him?

TIA

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