____ If you were divorced or legally separated at the end of the tax year, you did not claim your former spouse as an exemption.
____ If you filed a separate return and your spouse had gross income or filed a separate return, you did not claim your spouse as an exemption.
____ If you filed a separate return and your spouse was another taxpayer's dependent, you did not claim your spouse as an exemption.
____ You did not claim your deceased spouse as an exemption after the year of death.
____ You did not claim your child as an exemption since your former spouse had custody for a greater portion of the year than you did and your contribution to support was less than one-half of the child's total support.
____ You have provided more than 50% of the person's total support.
____ The person did not have gross income equal to or greater than the exemption amount ($2,500 for 1995).
____ The person did not file a joint return, except to solely receive a refund.
____ An unrelated person was a member of your household for the entire tax year.
____ The relationship between you and this person was not in violation of local law.
____ The person was either a U.S. citizen or national or a resident of the United States, Canada or Mexico.
____ If you have contributed less than one-half of the person's total support, you have submitted a Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration, for each other person who contributed more than 10 percent of the persons support.
____ Contributions by a member of a household apply first to the payment of his/her own share of the expenses and then any excess which cannot be traced to a certain member is considered to apply pro rata to the expenses of all who did not provide their own full support. Under this method of distribution, you can establish that you furnished more than one-half of the cost of the support for the dependent you claimed.
____ If the dependent that you claimed lived in his/her own house, you added the fair rental value of his/her lodging to the other items of support to establish that you contributed more than one-half of that person's support.
____ If you lived in the dependent's home rent-free, you reduced the amount you spent for his/her support by the fair rental value of your lodging to establish that you contributed more than one-half of that person's support
____ You did not consider capital expenditures such as the purchase of a car, furniture or household appliances for personal and family reasons that benefit all members of the household when you established that you provided one-half of a person's support.
____ You did not consider your contribution to the upkeep of a family as entirely for any one person when all persons living in the home benefited from it.
____ Even though your child is a student, you must still meet the support test. Any amount spent from the dependent's own funds, including his/her wages, on such things as clothing, education, medical and dental care, recreation, transportation, entertainment and similar items, must be added to the dependent's total cost of support in determining whether you furnished more than one-half of the support. You can establish that you furnished more than one-half such support for this individual.
____ You have provided at least $600 to support your child, if your pre-1985 divorce or separate maintenance agreement specifies that you may claim the exemption for your child.
____ You did not claim a personal exemption for yourself if you can be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.
____ You have reduced the dollar amount of your exemptions by 2% for each $2,500 or part of $2500 ($1,250 if you are married filing separately) that your adjusted gross income exceeds the dollar limit for your filing status.
____ If you are divorced and your former spouse has remarried, the contribution of the divorced parent's new spouse to the support of your child is considered part of the divorced parent's contribution. If the combined contribution of both your former spouse and his/her new spouse is more than 50% of the total cost of support for the dependent(s), you have not claimed the exemption(s).
____ To determine whether you contributed more than one-half of the cost of the dependent's support, it is necessary to know the total cost. You can show the total cost of support provided from all sources.
____ Tax-free income (such as Social Security benefits, pensions and state welfare benefit payments received by a claimed dependent) is part of support unless established otherwise. You did not claim an exemption if the benefits received represent more than one-half of the dependent's support.
____ The parent having custody for the greater part of the calendar year is entitled to the dependency exemption unless he or she expressly waives the right to claim the exemption. This applies to cases of divorce, legal separation, separation by written agreement, and to cases where the parents live apart during the last six months of the calendar year. You did not claim the exemption unless you had custody or the custodial parent waived his/her right to claim the exemption.
____ You did not claim a dependency exemption for a student who reached age 24 during the year unless the student's gross income is less than the exemption amount.
© 1986, 1998 to 2002, Jack Warren Wade, Jr.
