Depending

bear

Fiancé has not worked in a year and a half. She lives with me no income and I pay all the bills. Can I claim her as a dependent or does she have to file separate even though she is

kiarab

Hello.

Great question. You may be able to claim her as a dependent. According to the IRS, there are two types of dependents: qualifying child and qualifying relative. Since she is your fiancé, she may qualify as a qualifying relative.

There are 4 tests that need to be met in order to qualify:

1. The person can't be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer.
2. The person either (a) must be related to you in one of the ways listed under Relatives who don't have to live with you, or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household2 (and your relationship must not violate local law).
3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,400.3
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.4

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf (starting with page 11).

If she meets those requirements, she should be able to be considered your dependent.