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determination is presumed to be correct, and petitioner must
prove it wrong. Welch v. Helvering, 290 U.S. 111, 115 (1933).
1. Dependency Exemption
Section 151(c) allows a taxpayer to claim as a deduction an
exemption amount for each of his or her dependents. Sections 151
and 152 lay out the following five tests that a taxpayer must
meet in order to claim another person as a dependent: (1) Support
test, (2) relationship or household test, (3) citizenship or
residency test, (4) gross income test, and (5) joint return test.
If the taxpayer fails any of these tests, he or she may not claim
the person as a dependent.
As to the support test, the taxpayer must provide over half
of a claimed dependent’s support for the calendar year in which
the taxable year of the taxpayer begins. Sec. 152(a). The
support test requires the taxpayer to establish the total support
costs for the claimed individual and that the taxpayer provided
at least half of that amount. Archer v. Commissioner, 73 T.C.
963, 967 (1980); see Cotton v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-333;
Gulvin v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1980-111, affd. 644 F.2d 2
(5th Cir. 1981); Toponce v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1968-101. A
taxpayer who cannot establish the total amount of support costs
for the claimed individual generally may not claim that
individual as a dependent. Blanco v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 512,
514-515 (1971); Cotton v. Commissioner, supra.
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Last modified: May 25, 2011