Support Test for Qualifying Child

[peggysioux]

Taxpayer's 10 year old child was diagnosed with ADD and child is receiving social security disability payments due to the disability. Would the SS income be considered to be "provided by the child" to determine dependency?

[solomon]

May be

If it is used for support.

[Koss]

Support

Pub. 17, page 31, middle column:

Social security benefits. If a husband and wife each receive benefits that are paid by one check made out to both of them, half the total paid is considered to be for the support of each spouse, unless they can show otherwise.
If a child receives social security benefits and uses them toward his own support, the benefits are considered as provided by the child.

* * * * *
Although this paragraph appears in the section that describes the support test for Qualifying Relative, the section on the support test for Qualifying Child directs the reader to this section "to see what is or is not support." See Pub. 17, page 28, bottom of left hand column.

Burton M. Koss

[peggysioux]

Thank you!!

for clarifying!!

[New York Enrolled Agent]

Is this really the case???????????
"Taxpayer's 10 year old child was diagnosed with ADD and child is receiving social security disability payments due to the disability."

The child is getting social security based on the child's disability at AGE 10? Can this be correct?

[Brad Imsdahl]

Yes under Family benefit rules. TTB, page 22-2 under Family benefits says that for a worker collecting Social Security who is still alive, the following family members may also receive benefits:

The 5th bullet says "Disabled children, even if they are age 18 or older."

[Kram BergGold]

FMV of rental

Remember, to be sure child is not providing 50% of support, you give the parents credit for the FMV of the housing they are providing. This is usually enough to offset the kid's income.

[veritas]

Wow

SSI for ADD? Millions of kids have been diagnosed with this. Heck I think I have it.

[Matt Sova]

Huh?

What were we discussing?

[ChEAr$]

Yes

Is this really the case???????????
"Taxpayer's 10 year old child was diagnosed with ADD and child is receiving social security disability payments due to the disability."

The child is getting social security based on the child's disability at AGE 10? Can this be correct?

the're called "crazy checks". Parents coach the child how to display the symptons and
on certification by a "doctor" Social Security administration pays the checks.

[veritas]

God Bless America!

Once I did an tax return for a russian immigrant. He was married and had a couple of children. Was a hard worker in the shipyards, a nasty job.

Did his tax return and his refund was several thousand because of the EITC. When I told him what the refund was he about fell out of the chair.

He said how?

I said welcome to America.

[New York Enrolled Agent]

Brad - I don't disagree with what you wrote but the poster mentions nothing about a retired and/or disabled parent.

"Taxpayer's 10 year old child was diagnosed with ADD and child is receiving social security disability payments due to the disability."

The clear implication (at least to me ) is that the child was collecting on their own account based on the child's disability. If the parent is collecting SS benefits, wouldn't the 10 year would be eligible for benefits whether or not he/she was disabled? The benefits would flow because of their age & not due to any special disability condition.

[Koss]

Disabled Child

The original post states that the 10-year old has ADD and is receiving "social security disability" benefits.

This is SSI, or supplemental security income.

It is indeed the same program that provides benefits to disabled adults. And it is indeed administered by Social Security.

The program uses a very different definition of disabled for children than the one used for adults. The child in question will be re-evaluated when he turns 18, and he may no longer be considered disabled at that point. He probably has to be re-evaluated annually anyway, but the criteria for receiving benefits changes when he becomes an adult.

Check out this link:

http://www.ssa.gov/notices/supplemental-security-income/text-eligibility-ussi.htm

Yeah, it's pretty alice-in-wonderland, if you ask me. These kids on SSI have some real problems, but the more serious problem is usually that the parents can't handle it, and it just gets worse. These children become unmanageable. I know a little bit about ADD, and in its severe forms, it needs to be actively managed every hour that the child is awake. It isn't something where you can just take your kid to the doctor and get it fixed. Sometimes the parents are barely functional themselves, and they just don't understand that the meds and the one hour a week visit with a shrink are not a comprehensive treatment program.

So we throw money at the problem...

Burton M. Koss

[jainen]

question in the original post

>>This is SSI, or supplemental security income<<

SSI and Social Security Disability are not the same thing. If the child receives SSI, it is treated as a welfare payment which is support provided by a third party. This was the question in the original post.

[Brad Imsdahl]

Brad - I don't disagree with what you wrote but the poster mentions nothing about a retired and/or disabled parent.

Well, you and I both know that some posters on this message board have a habit of leaving out important details.

I was merely supplying one possible explanation as to why a 10 year old ADD kid would be receiving Social Security Disability. You are correct; if Mom or Dad are not already on Social Security, the kid could not qualify for Social Security Disability. SSI maybe, but not Social Security.