Can 20hrs/week for 6 weeks be considered Substantial Gainful Activity for dependent adult child with disability?

The IRS looks at the totality of circumstances when determining Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) for a dependent with a disability. For 2023, the SGA threshold was $1,470 per month for non-blind individuals with disabilities. So the key question isn't just the hours worked but how much your son earned during those 6 weeks. If his earnings during that seasonal period averaged less than $1,470 per month, then it likely wouldn't be considered SGA. The IRS also tends to look at sustained activity rather than temporary increases in work hours. A 6-week seasonal position would generally be viewed as temporary employment rather than a permanent change in status. Also remember that for your son to qualify as your dependent under the qualifying child rules, he needs to meet the residency, relationship, age, and support tests. Since he has a permanent disability and is over 24, the age test is met as long as he was permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year.

After struggling with almost the exact same situation with my daughter last year, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me figure out the SGA rules for dependents with disabilities. I uploaded my daughter's paystubs and explained her disability situation, and it gave me a detailed breakdown of how the IRS would likely view her short-term increased work activity. The tool explained that temporary seasonal work is often treated differently than permanent employment changes, especially when there's a documented disability. It even pointed me to the specific IRS publications that addressed my situation. Saved me hours of research and stress!

Just wanted to update that I tried taxr.ai after reading about it here, and it was incredibly helpful for our situation with my son's fluctuating work hours. The analysis showed that his temporary increase in hours wouldn't affect his dependent status since it was clearly seasonal and his disability remained unchanged. The tool even generated a letter explaining our position that I could keep with our tax records in case of an audit. It referenced the specific disability provisions in the tax code and explained how they apply to temporary work increases. Definitely worth checking out if you're dealing with disability and dependent status questions!

If you're still struggling to get a clear answer about Substantial Gainful Activity for your dependent, you might want to talk directly to the IRS. I spent weeks trying to figure this out last year and finally used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to an actual IRS agent without waiting on hold forever. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with explained that temporary seasonal work generally doesn't disqualify someone with a permanent disability, especially if they returned to minimal work hours afterward. They said they look at patterns of employment rather than isolated periods of increased activity. It was such a relief to hear it directly from the source!

I have to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After commenting here, I decided to try it because I was desperate for answers about my brother's disability status. I was connected to an IRS agent in about 45 minutes without having to wait on hold myself. The agent clarified that for SGA determinations with disabilities, they consider factors beyond just income - including special conditions of employment, accommodations, and whether the work was temporary. They confirmed that seasonal work usually doesn't change dependent status if there's a documented disability and the person returns to lower activity levels afterward. This saved us so much stress about my brother's tax situation!

I'm a parent of a 26-year-old with a disability, and we've dealt with the SGA question multiple times. Here's what I've learned: The Social Security Administration and the IRS have different standards for SGA. For the IRS dependent exemption, they're primarily concerned with the support test (do you provide more than half their support?) rather than strictly applying the SSA's SGA limits. In my experience, a brief period of increased work during the holiday season hasn't affected our ability to claim our son as a dependent, especially since his annual income was still low and we continued to provide most of his support throughout the year.

Anyone know if there are different SGA thresholds for different types of disabilities? My son has a physical disability but is cognitively typical. He worked at Target during the holiday rush but otherwise works minimal hours the rest of the year.