My Mother IN Law came in US on July 4th 07 on Visitor Visa, around 180 days. She was dependent on us through out the time period. While this is less than 180, when I looked at Subtantiual presence test on IRS website, it mentions that we can count 1/6th of days when she was dependent in 2005, for the 183 day test. My MIL stayed for around 2 months, which make her total days 190. Based on this, can you please confirm that she passes the substantial presence test and I can claim her as a dependent.

ALso, will a notarized copy of her passport from a public notary Bank will suffice or we need to go to IRS to get the true copy stamp for her passport.

Thanks a Lot. This website is really information for a newbie like me.

MukatA

The first question is can you count the days on visitor visa for residency test of 183 days?
For example, 5 years of F1 visa and 2 or 5 years on J1 visa are not counted as days of residency.

dnasarpu

I read threads answered by atlantataxexpert in previous threads that tax can be claimed for parents or in-laws who are visiting US, and they can be included as dependents. I did not see anything on IRS website yet that peopl on B1/B2 Visitor class visa may not be able to count their days as days of residency.
Please let me know if above is wrong

MukatA

dnasarpu, I am not sure if you can claim parents of in-laws as dependent or not.
In this case, there is another important point to note:
Your parents/in-laws don't have 183 days in 2007. Now refer to IRS Pub 519--Tax Guide for Aliens, Fig 1-A. For situations where you meet 183 days test but don't have 183 days in 2007
"Can you show that for 2007 you have a tax home in foreign country and have a closer connection to that country than to the United States." So IRS may want you to prove reverse of this statement.

AtlantaTaxExpert

Some of my previous forum posts have not been entirely accurate.

The case of claim parents who are foreign nationals as dependents, the general rule taht they must be physically located in country for 183 days or more is the principal driving consideration to being to claim them as a dependent ony our return.

You CANNOT count the days from the previous year towards this test.