Supporting parents living with me - what's my correct tax filing status?

This is actually a common situation, and you've got several good questions here. First, it's completely okay for multiple taxpayers with different filing statuses to use the same physical address. The IRS is well aware that families often share homes - this happens with adult children living with parents, siblings sharing homes, etc. For your specific situation, here's what you need to know: You can continue filing as single while your parents file married-filing-jointly, even at the same address. This won't raise any red flags with the IRS as long as you're all reporting your own individual incomes correctly. Regarding claiming them as dependents - you could potentially claim your parents as dependents if they qualify as your "qualifying relatives." To do this, several tests must be met: their income must be below $4,800 (for 2025), you must provide more than half their total support for the year, and they must meet relationship and residency requirements (which they do if they're living with you all year). If you claim them as dependents, you DON'T include their income on your tax return. You'd just get the dependent tax credit for each qualifying parent. Their income remains separate from yours for tax purposes. As for benefits eligibility - this gets tricky. Different programs have different rules about household composition. For some benefits, if you're providing most of their support and claiming them as dependents, your income might indeed be considered part of the household income for their benefits applications.

I went through something similar last year with my elderly aunt moving in. I was totally confused about all the tax implications and benefit eligibility stuff. I ended up using this cool tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped clarify my situation. It analyzed my specific living arrangement and helped me understand exactly how to file correctly. The best part was that it confirmed I could maintain my filing status without worrying about the IRS questioning our arrangement. It also helped me determine whether claiming her as a dependent would actually benefit me financially (turns out it did in my case). Since your situation with your parents has multiple angles - the shared address, potential benefits eligibility, and the dependency question - I think this tool could really help you see which approach saves you the most money while keeping everything legitimate.

I wanted to follow up about that taxr.ai thing I was skeptical about. I actually ended up trying it after my wife's parents moved in with us last month, and I have to admit it was surprisingly helpful. I uploaded our documents and it showed me exactly how claiming them would affect our taxes versus letting them file independently. It even had a specific section about government benefits eligibility that explained how different filing choices would impact their Medicare and potential SNAP benefits. The tool confirmed that my in-laws could still file their own return while I claimed them as dependents, which I wasn't sure about before. What really impressed me was how it personalized everything to our specific income levels and living situation. Definitely clarified our options better than the general advice I was finding online.

Have you tried contacting the IRS directly about this? I was in a similar situation and wanted definitive answers straight from them. But man, calling the IRS was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE. I tried for weeks and couldn't get through. Then I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I explained my exact situation (supporting my brother who lives with me) and got a clear answer about how to file correctly without affecting his benefit eligibility. The agent explained that multi-generational households are common and there are specific guidelines for these situations. Getting that official clarification directly from the IRS gave me peace of mind that I was doing everything correctly.

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment earlier. After waiting on hold with the IRS for 2 hours yesterday and getting disconnected AGAIN, I was desperate enough to try that Claimyr service. I was honestly shocked when they called me back in about 15 minutes and connected me directly to an IRS agent. I explained my situation (which is similar to yours - my mother-in-law lives with us) and got definitive answers about filing status and dependency requirements. The agent confirmed that claiming her as a dependent wouldn't affect her Medicare eligibility, which was my biggest concern. This saved me so much time and frustration. Now I have the official answer directly from the IRS instead of trying to piece together information from various websites. Sometimes I hate admitting when I'm wrong, but in this case I'm glad I gave it a chance.

Something important that hasn't been mentioned yet - if you decide to claim your parents as dependents, make sure you have documentation proving you provide more than half their support. This includes records of mortgage payments, utility bills, grocery receipts, medical expenses you paid for them, etc. I went through an audit a few years ago specifically about my dependent claims, and having this documentation organized and ready made the process much easier. The IRS might ask you to prove the support test, especially if your parents have their own income that's close to the threshold. Also, if they receive Social Security benefits, remember that those count toward their income for the gross income test for dependency ($4,800 in 2025).

Just a word of caution about claiming parents as dependents - make sure you consider the impact on health insurance too. If your workplace offers dependent coverage, adding parents might be very expensive compared to what they could get on their own through Medicare or the marketplace. Also, some states have different rules than federal for dependent eligibility for certain benefits. Where I live, my mom still qualified for state prescription assistance even though I claimed her as a dependent on my federal taxes, but this varies by location.

I'm dealing with almost the exact same situation! My elderly parents moved in with me last year and I've been so confused about all the tax implications. Reading through everyone's responses here has been really helpful. One thing I learned from my tax preparer that might help you - she said to keep really detailed records of who pays for what, even if you don't end up claiming them as dependents this year. That way if your parents' financial situation changes (like if their income drops or they need more support), you'll have the documentation ready to make that decision next year. Also, regarding the benefits eligibility question - I found out that for SNAP benefits specifically, they do look at household composition differently than the IRS does for tax purposes. So even if you're all filing separately, the benefits office might still consider it one household for food stamp eligibility. Definitely worth checking with your local benefits office about their specific rules. The address thing really isn't an issue at all - the IRS sees multi-generational households all the time. As long as everyone is reporting their own income correctly on their individual returns, you're good to go.