tax question can son on welfare be dependant on mom's tax return

[mcam]

If mother lives with her son who is on welfare, can she declare him as a dependant without it affecting his welfare or will his welfare be cut off?

[barnez]

Good question, I will try to give a 'good' answer.

1. If he is on welfare by himself, he's over 18, he should be filing his own return as well, as he'd qualify for many benefits.
2. If mom claims him as a dependent, be very sure that his welfare worker knows that he lives with his mom, who I assume has income. Often (most of the time) applicants will be denied welfare assistance if they live with their parent who may be able to provide for them. (Most often this is the case with younger adults on welfare, 18-25 or so, not with an adult child that moved home at the age of 35 after being on their own for a length of time.) It is important that welfare knows, because the computers at Canada Revenue 'talk' to the computer systems at social assistance offices.
3. Note, in #2 I didn't say 'make sure welfare knows his mom is claiming him', just make sure they know he is living with a parent.
4. Welfare would not have access to mom's tax return unless mom herself is on social assistance of some type.

Hope this is of some help.

[jayne_a]

No, b/c he has an income, They will stop his welfare b/c the goven't figures "mom" should look after her child. That's what happened to me. The welfare office said since mom lived with me, she should be paying the bills and taking care of me like "a good mother should" and that's a quote from the lady i talked to. Then they cut me off b/c i told them my mom moved in with me.

[truckerofbc]

The bottom line is this.
A dependent is one who is infirmed or unable to care for themselves. Has no income of their own. Or you supported them alone or attends school full time. Your son has welfare, thus he does not fit the dependent role and is required to file his own income tax as Welfare is considered a source of income. As you will see below the qualifier is that YOU supported the dependent and the other qualifier is that the child must be under the age of 18. In this case, we know that is not true since he gets welfare.

That should be the basics covering it.

Line 305 - Amount for an eligible dependant

You may be able to claim this amount if, at any time in the year, you met all of the following conditions at once:

you did not have a spouse or common-law partner or, if you did, you were not living with, supporting, or being supported by that person;
you supported a dependant in 2010; and
you lived with the dependant (in most cases in Canada) in a home that you maintained. You cannot claim this amount for a person who was only visiting you.
In addition, at the time you met the above conditions, the dependant must also have been either:

your parent or grandparent by blood, marriage, common-law partnership, or adoption; or
your child, grandchild, brother, or sister, by blood, marriage, common-law partnership, or adoption and either under 18 years of age or mentally or physically impaired.

[addismom]

iF hes over 18 yrs old,and is on welfare he can still get it,but it will be less than if he was on his own. He will have to show he is paying his mom rent and she will have to declare that on her return.