- 4 - not have a qualifying child for the earned income tax credit. Respondent also changed petitioner’s filing status to single. Discussion 1. Dependency Exemption Deduction A taxpayer is permitted to claim as a deduction an exemption for certain dependents. See sec. 151(a), (c)(1). A taxpayer’s son qualifies as a dependent so long as the taxpayer provided more than half of the support to the dependent. See sec. 152(a)(1); sec. 1.152-1(a)(1), Income Tax Regs. The level of support is determined by the support test, in which the total amount of support from all sources is compared with the amount of support actually provided by a taxpayer. The taxpayer must establish, by competent evidence, the total amount of the support furnished by all sources for the taxable year at issue. See Turay v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1999-315; Keegan v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-511; sec. 1.152-1(a)(2)(i), Income Tax Regs. If the total amount of support is not established, then it is generally not possible to conclude that the taxpayer provided more than half of the support to the claimed dependent. See Blanco v. Commissioner, 56 T.C. 512, 514-515 (1971); Batson v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2000-172; Butler v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1998-355; Smith v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 1997-544. Support includes such items as food, shelter, medical expenses, and clothing. See sec. 1.152-1(a)(2)(i), Income TaxPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011