Claiming myself on my tax return

Claiming myself on my tax return?

Okay, I'm 18, and I still live with my mom, but I provide more than half of my support because my mom's disabled. According to the IRS website, she can't claim me because I provide more than 50% of my support...does that mean I'm able to claim myself? I want to claim myself since I will get a larger refund, and it seems like I should be able to considering my mom can't (and my dad's completely out of the picture), but I'm afraid that if I do claim myself, I'll get something in the mail saying I wasn't allowed to and I have to redo my taxes, which would mean I'd have to redo the FAFSA, and it would be a big mess. So I just wanted to know for sure that I could...


Also, if I was able to claim myself, how will the IRS determine if I provided more than half of my support? I won't be able to prove it because I give the money to my mom in cash and she puts it in her checkbook....it's my first time filling out my own tax return and I just don't want to make any mistakes. Thanks a lot!

Other Answers:

I would go on www.irs.gov. I think with your mom being on disability it is not taxable. I also think you may be able to claim your mom as there are circumstances.
If your mom does file, ask her if she claimed you. If she did, the system will not allow you to claim yourself.

The only thing you can do is filing your taxes on your own you don't claim yourself as a dependent.

Your mom being disabled doesn't mean that you provide over half of your own support. Does she own the home you live in? Or if it's a rented place, does she pay the rent or do you pay at least half of it? If she owns the home or pays all of the rent, then it's unlikely you provide over half of you own support since the roof over your head is a large portion of your support. If you're giving her enough money to basically pay your share of the household expenses, then you very possibly do provide over half of your own support.

If you DO provide over half of your support, then yes you can claim yourself on your tax return.