Good Lifestyle

Tax season. This is one of the most stressful moments of the year, when you are blurring like crazy to get your ducks in a row. And by ducks, of course, we hear the obscene amount of the bureaucracy documentation that has emitted from the bureaucracy or, more specifically, your exhausted accountant will have to be worn through next week and change. If you like most of America lasts, you have probably waited so far so that the gear move. So we would like to offer extra tips, especially if youwant to dodge an audit.

You may be surprised to learn that your friends, not your family, could be the key to unlocking a stress-free tax season. "If you support a boyfriend or a girlfriend - or even a friend, you can claim them as a dependent," saysLisa Greene-Lewis, CPA and tax expert with turbotax, also calledTurbotaxlisa, the blog editor for turbotax. Many people neglect this little exception and end up losing on the benefits. (For 2017, the dependent exemption was $ 4,050.)

Of course, like anything that involves your signature and social security number, there are rules. You can not just fear, "I have friends" on your W-2 and get the exemption. "If you have provided half of their support and have lived with you, you can claim them as a dependent," says Greene-Lewis. To answer your next question, no, pets do not count - even if your puppy needed a $ 6,000 surgery to remove a stack of rubber bands from his small intestine.

Being able to claim girlfriends and boyfriends as dependents are a curious rule. After all, the IRS encourage marriage by offering a personal exemption for spouses. But be able to receive a dependent exemption from your beloved to be loved more or less nullified. In fact, Greene-Lewis mentions that she has seen couples get married to maximize their tax benefits. (As a general rule, these couples are high scents; if the two people in a wedding are 6-figures, they can cope with marriage penalties.)

So when you meet your accountant this year, think of your friends and lovers. However, you must be very clear, however, and mention it to your accountant. After all, how was he supposed to know you have a friend over the garage for eight months? And for more advice from the tax season, know the5 best ways to survive an IRS audit.

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