I've tried to find information on the IRS web page but it was vague

I'm trying to find out if I can carry my domestic partner as a dependent when I file my federal taxes. He has lived with me the entire year and I provide 100% of his support.

If any of you Offsprungers know taxes and could give me a little insight I'd be forever indebted.

Kiwi - maybe this site has some answers:

http://www.unmarriedamerica.org/

Sometimes you just have to love the internet. Who would have thought that there would be a site dedicated to this type of thing?

Kiwi -

According to the IRS site, there are several "tests" he must pass to determine whether you can claim him. From your info above, it looks like he would pass the:

Citizen/Resident test: he is a U.S. citizen
Joint Return test: he will not file a joint return
Support test: you provided more than half his support

The tests still in question are:
Relationship test: It states that he must be a relative, but I haven't yet come across who can be defined as a relative
Gross Income test: Did he receive any income at all? Interest income - anything at all? If so, it has to have been less than the exemption amount (haven't found what that is yet)

I'll keep looking unless you've already found your answer.

Okay, so for the Gross Income test, the qualifying dependant must have earned less than $3,400 for the year.

As for the relationship test, according to the site, the person must have lived for you for the entire year and cannot be your spouse. They also must not be claimed on anyone else's return. I could find no mention of domestic partner, but you might want to get clarification before claiming him since, as you well know, the status of domestic partner vs. spouse is a very fuzzy area.

A caveat: He will still need to file his own return and cannot claim an exemption for himself if you do.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Second paragraph should say "lived with you", not "lived for you" (although I would hope he lives for you anyway).

There also may be differences in the way you file with the state and the way you file with the IRS. Which tax year are you filing for, if you don't mind me asking?

PBM... thanks for the info. Taxes are not my strong suite.

As far as we know no one should be claiming him. Aside from the occasional "good job" I give him for all his domestic accomplishments he has not made any money at all this year. He is not my spouse(nor is he common law cause TX still has that *eye roll*). I just can't figure out if he qualifies as my dependent. The IRS site says on thing in one portion of their web page and something different somewhere else.

Alan- We don't have to file state taxes in TX. It would be 2008 tax year (so when I file next Feb I'd hoped to claim him)

Kiwi, I don't know what the Houston city libraries are like, but Austin Public Library branches have free tax preparation help beginning every January. You could always call your local branch to check if they have something like that.

I'm not sure if they offer that in our libraries but I will surely look it up. Thanks for that tidbit CJRW.

My advice, which should only be followed if you are willing to suffer the consequences:

Don't file tax returns.

Kiwi - Lucky! When are you guys getting married? If you tie the not by 12-31-08 you will be considered married for '08 tax filings and will get the extra exemption and higher allowances and what have you.

We weren't planning on getting married till next year. But if getting married this year is advantageous. I'll totally do a justice of the peace thing this year and then do the dog and pony show next year.

Kiwi - the year before we got married, I claimed my DH as a dependent - he'd only made like $200 that year, as he was still in school. Plus, I got to take his education credits, which made my refund VERY NICE.

So the short answer is, assuming you provided at least 50% of his support (and you said that you did), he lived with you all year, and made less than $3400, then yes, you can.

BTW, info about it is found at http://taxes.about.com/od/dependents/a/Dependents_3.htm and he would be a qualifying relative - If you click on the link next to Relationship, then scroll down to where it says Qualifying Relationships with a mandatory residency requirement. :-)

Kiwi - I'd check on the tax benefit about getting married - PF and I got married on New Years Eve a million years ago and ended up with a big tax hit that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I know there was some talk about adjusting the "marriage penalty" when the Republicans took over but I don't know if it went through. Since it seems like you can already claim him as a dependent there might not be a financial reason to get hitched (other than insurance benefits...)