- quote -

If they have no taxable income, yes, you can claim them.
However, you do not own the home and are not liable for the
loan, so you do not get to claim their Sch A expenses
regarding the home.

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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"george" <_tipee_[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

You may be able to claim your parents as dependents, but you
cannot deduct the interest and taxes on their house on your
return since you are not legally obligated to be making
those payments.

Wayne Brasch, CPA, M. S. Taxation

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george wrote:

- quote -

Dependents -- possibly. Compare your payment of their house
expenses to their total support (including fair market value
rental of the house). If you pay more than half, yes....
(Assuming all US citizens, and some other factors I may not
be considering.)

Deducting the interest and property tax will not fly --
although our esteemed moderator proposed a possible
scenario.

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- quote -

1. You can generally claim your parents if you provide more
than 1/2 their support AND they have very low income
income from all other sources--check the rules on how low
this must be. its a very low $ limit--which I forget.

2. You cannot claim a deduction for taxes or mortgage
interest for which you have no legal duty to pay. One
solution for the future would be to get yourself onto the
mortgage and deed if you expect this need to continue.

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_tipee_[at]yahoo.com (george) writes:

- quote -

Possibly. See the five dependency tests in IRS Publication
501. If you're unmarried and at least one of your parents
is your dependent, you also qualify for Head of Household
filing status.

- quote -

No. To be deductible, you must both be responsible for and
make the payments.

Phil Marti
Topeka, KS

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I am currently partially supporting my parents and pay for
the mortgage and property tax on their house. can i claim
my parents as dependents (they have no income) and the
interest on the mortgage and property tax for their house,
even though my name is not on the title of the house? not
sure if this matters, but i own my own house as well.

thanks,
gw.

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