Does room and board reduce SSI benefits? Tax filing status impact?

Yes, free room and board counts as "in-kind support and maintenance" (ISM) in SSI rules, which can reduce her benefit by up to 1/3 of the Federal Benefit Rate. For 2025, that's a reduction of about $314 from the maximum $943 payment, meaning she could receive around $629/month instead. Regarding taxes, SSI recipients can still be claimed as dependents if they meet the other IRS requirements (you provide more than half their support, they live with you, etc.). You can maintain your Head of Household status as long as you provide more than half the cost of keeping up the home and your daughter qualifies as your dependent. I recommend documenting all expenses you cover for her support (medical, clothing, food portion, etc.) to demonstrate you provide over half her support for tax purposes.

When my son started getting SSI, we went through the same thing. What helped us was creating a rental agreement where he paid us a fair market rent from his SSI. That way, the SSA doesn't count it as free room and board, and he gets the full benefit amount. He pays us $600/month, and we even had the agreement notarized to make it official. For taxes, we haven't been able to claim him as a dependent anymore since he gets SSI and uses that money for his own support. We did lose Head of Household, which stinks, but at least he gets his full SSI payment.

i heard from my cousin that if u charge rent it has to be ACTUAL market rate not fake rent. SSA will check if ur charging way below normal rent for ur area. also they look at ultities too not just the rent part

If your daughter receives SSI, she needs to report her living arrangement to SSA. There are several ways room and board can affect SSI: 1. If she gets everything free (full ISM), her benefit is reduced by 1/3 2. If she pays for food OR shelter but not both, there's a different calculation 3. If she pays her fair share of household expenses, there's no reduction For the tax question - yes, you can potentially still claim her as a dependent AND keep head of household status IF she meets the qualifying relative tests. SSI benefits don't count toward the gross income test for dependency. The most important factor is whether you provide more than half her total support. I highly recommend scheduling an appointment with SSA to discuss the specific situation and documenting everything carefully. Work out all the numbers before making arrangements.

Getting through to SSA to figure this out is IMPOSSIBLE!!! I've been trying for 2 weeks to talk to someone about my son's ISM calculation and keep getting disconnected after waiting for hours. The online resources don't explain the specific situations clearly either. This system is designed to fail vulnerable people, I swear.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm going to look into creating a formal rental agreement at market rate and see if that makes more financial sense. I'll also need to calculate whether I still provide more than half her support once she starts receiving SSI. I'll definitely need to talk to someone at SSA to make sure we're doing everything correctly. I appreciate all the insights - this is much clearer now!

u should also ask about SNAP benefits!! my sister gets SSI and food stamps too even tho she lives with my parents

My daughter got her benefits reduced because of living with us AND THEN they said we owed back $4,500 because we didn't report the living situation right away!!! Make sure you document EVERYTHING from day 1!!!!

we got it reduced to $2800 but still had to pay it back in monthly installments taken from her check. just be super careful and report EVERYTHING. they don't tell you all the rules up front.