- quote -

Let's not compare apples with tangerines now. Yes, that
would be temporary, but ...... I can claim myself no matter
where I am in the world. Plus being in a temporary job
location, I might can deduct some other expenses!

Sunday morning ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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- quote -

We're getting off one one of those tangerines again. uh.
"tangents".

If the parents are paying the entire bill, then yes, the
dorm, or a house purhased by the parents are an extension of
the old home place, and therefore student's residence is
same as parents'.

When they sell said house, which is not a home, much less a
primary residence, there's nothing about any "exclusion."

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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- quote -

Or maybe not.

What if the child has a scholarship that covers it?

Back in the 1970's there was an interesting (related) case
about voting. The Election Board in Cambridge MA
discriminated against students; it wouldn't let them
register, claiming that their support came from their
parents somewhere else, so they should register there (even
if the student spent the full year in Cambridge).

Then one student replied "Actually, I have a full
scholarship, so all of my support comes from here." They
let him vote. The next student offered to sue the school
for preventing him from voting by not giving him a full
scholarship; the Election Board caved.

Anyway, I don't see the college/dorm home being an
"extension" of the parents' home. Consider parents who buy
a condo for their student offspring to use, and sell it 4
years later; does it count as their home for exclusion
purposes? (Suppose they sell their actual home
simultaneously, even in the same transaction, if that
helps.)

Seth

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Many thanks for all the suggestions and feedback. I discussed
this with IRS over phone and they suggested to consider child
as dependent.

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- quote -

If your company sends you to an office in another state for
8 months, following which you return to your current
location, wouldn't you consider that temporary?

Seth

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Phil Marti wrote:
- quote -

You have a point there of course. However I would make a
distinction here in that the college dorm/home is really an
extension of parents' home, since they're paying for it.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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an.pande[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

I suspect that a little knowledge of Asian cultures would
help here. It may not be common but it certainly is not
unusual for children with even one Asian parent to spend an
extended time with relatives in the home country. In some
cases, the grandparents may actually raise the child -- in
which case the dependent exemption would not be available.
However, many parents take their child to stay with
relatives for several months, particularly before the child
starts school. As long as the visit is just that, a
temporary visit, I see no reason to deny the exemption.

Lanny K. Williams, CPA
Nawarat, Williams & Co., Ltd.
Income Tax Services for Expatriate Americans

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LTSLLC wrote:

- quote -

I'll go along with this answer if the visit was temporary.

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LTSLLC wrote:

- quote -

caution: OP said: the son was away for 8 months. EIGHT
months! That doesn't sound "temporary" in nature to me.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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"A.G. Kalman" <glendale202-mtmtax[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

A child who's away at college except for the summer isn't
physically present in your home for more than 6 months
either, but remains your qualifying child because the
absence is temporary. IMO the fact pattern here is the same
and the child remains OP's qualifying child.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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pan.pande[at]gmail.com wrote:

- quote -

You may claim a dependency exemption for your child as long
the child is not a qualifying child to another taxpayer and
the child is your qualifying relative. The child is not
your qualifying child because the child did not live with
you for more than 6 months.

The child might be the qualifying child of his grandparents
or a sibling ONLY if the grandparents or siblings are US
taxpayers. They would be US taxpayers if they were subject
to US tax law. If they are not US citizens nor US residents
nor US nationals and they did not have any US source income,
they are not US taxpayers. As such the child would not be
anyone's qualified child and may be your qualifying relative
as long as the child is a US citizen or US, Canadian or
Mexican resident, has gross income less than $3200 and you
paid more than half of his/her total support for 2005.

I am not a Taxcut user, but I am guessing that Taxcut
requires you to answer some other questions or check the
appropriate boxes if you tell it that the child did not live
with you for more than 6 months.

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Yes, you can claim your son as a dependent since he is
considered to be "temporarily absent" from your home. You
may also qualify for the child tax credit.

See
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#d0e3290

Exemptions for Dependents

You are allowed one exemption for each person you can claim
as a dependent. You can claim an exemption for a dependent
even if your dependent files a return.

Beginning in 2005, the term "dependent" means:

* A qualifying child, or
* A qualifying relative.

The terms "qualifying child" and "qualifying relative" are
defined later.

You can claim an exemption for a qualifying child or
qualifying relative only if these three tests are met.

1. Dependent taxpayer test.
2. Joint return test.
3. Citizen or resident test.

These three tests are explained in detail later.

All the requirements for claiming an exemption for a
dependent are summarized in Table 5.

Table 5. Overview of the Rules for Claiming an Exemption for
a Dependent

Caution: This table is only an overview of the rules. For
details, see the rest of this publication.

*You cannot claim any dependents if you, or your spouse if
filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent by another
taxpayer.

*You cannot claim a married person who files a joint return
as a dependent unless that joint return is only a claim for
refund and there would be no tax liability for either spouse
on separate returns.

*You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person
is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident, U.S. national, or a
resident of Canada or Mexico, for some part of the year. 1

*You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person
is your qualifying child or qualifying relative.

Tests To Be a Qualifying Child Tests To Be a Qualifying
Relative

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible
foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister,
stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the
year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a
full-time student, or (c) any age if permanently and totally
disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of
the year.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or
her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of
more than one person, you must be the person entitled to
claim the child as a qualifying child.

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the
qualifying child of anyone else. [1]
2. The person either (a) must be related to you in one of
the ways listed under Relatives who do not have to live with
you, or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your
household. [2]
3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than
$3,200. [3]
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total
support for the year. [4]

1 There is an exception for certain adopted children.
2 There are exceptions for temporary absences, children who
were born or died during the year, children of divorced
or separated parents, and kidnapped children.
3 There is an exception if the person is disabled and has
income from a sheltered workshop.
4 There is an exception for multiple support agreements.

Caution
Dependent not allowed a personal exemption. If you can claim
an exemption for your dependent, the dependent cannot claim
his or her own exemption on his or her own tax return. This
is true even if you do not claim the dependent's exemption
on your return or if the exemption will be reduced or
eliminated under the phaseout rule described under Phaseout
of Exemptions, later.

Housekeepers, maids, or servants. If these people work for
you, you cannot claim exemptions for them.

Child tax credit. You may be entitled to a child tax
credit for each qualifying child who was under age 17 at the
end of the year. For more information, see the instructions
in your tax forms package.

Rudy
www.LizcanoTaxServicesLLC.com

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I have 4 yr old child. Last year he went to Asia to meet
his grandparents and other relatives and stayed there for
over 8 months (keep extending time). I took care of all his
living expenses etc while in Asia. My question is with new
rule in effect can I still claim him as my dependent. I
tried TaxCut and it suggested I can't claim him as dependent
for 2005. I had claimed him before 2005 i.e he has Social
sec. etc.

Thanks for your help.

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