Can I tax deduct money sent to my country to help my mom and sister?

Can I tax deduct money sent to my country to help my mom and sister?
I've been sending around $1000 every month to my home country (Venezuela) to help support my mom and sister. Can I claim them as dependents on my tax return, even though they're not citizens, or residents. I'm a legal resident.


Answers:

Chosen Answer
loafer:  no
2008-03-06 05:54:41
bostonianinmo:  No, that's not deductible. Gifts are never deductible and if you donate more than $12,000 to any one recipient in any tax year you must file a Gift Tax return and possibly (though not likely) pay gift taxes on it. To claim someone as a dependent, they MUST either be a US citizen or a resident of the US, Canada or Mexico. Since your mother and sister are neither you cannot claim them as dependents. Sorry.
2008-03-06 05:59:07
robert w:  sorry No . IRS has real qualifications for deductions at their irs.gov site
2008-03-06 05:59:21
rtfm:  Nope. The only time you can claim a relative who lives in a foreign country as a dependent is if they live in Canada or Mexico -- and even then, there's a lot of other restrictions that apply before you can claim them.
2008-03-06 06:02:55
chatsplas@sbcglobal.net:  NOPE. Sorry, not if they're not US citizens or residents, or residents of Canada or Mexico. And then you'd need ITIN #s for them.
2008-03-06 06:50:48