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total support of $4,700. You meet the support test for your mother, but not your father. Heat and utility costs are included in the fair rental value of the lodging, so these are not consid ered separately. Lodging. If you provide a person with lodging, you are considered to provide support equal to the fair rental value of the room, apartment, house, or other shelter in which the person lives. Fair rental value includes a reasonable al lowance for the use of furniture and appliances, and for heat and other utilities that are provided. Fair rental value defined. Fair rental value is the amount you could reasonably expect to receive from a stranger for the same kind of lodging. It is used instead of actual expenses such as taxes, interest, depreciation, paint, in surance, utilities, and the cost of furniture and appliances. In some cases, fair rental value may be equal to the rent paid. If you provide the total lodging, the amount of support you provide is the fair rental value of the room the person uses, or a share of the fair rental value of the entire dwelling if the person has use of your entire home. If you do not pro vide the total lodging, the total fair rental value must be divided depending on how much of the total lodging you provide. If you provide only a part and the person supplies the rest, the fair rental value must be divided between both of you according to the amount each provides. Example. Your parents live rent free in a house you own. It has a fair rental value of $5,400 a year furnished, which includes a fair rental value of $3,600 for the house and $1,800 for the furniture. This does not include heat and utilities. The house is completely furnished with furniture belonging to your parents. You pay $600 for their utility bills. Utilities are not usually included in rent for houses in the area where your parents live. Therefore, you consider the total fair rental value of the lodging to be $6,000 ($3,600 fair rental value of the unfurnished house + $1,800 allowance for the furnishings provided by your parents + $600 cost of utilities) of which you are considered to provide $4,200 ($3,600 + $600). Person living in his or her own home. The total fair rental value of a person's home that he or she owns is considered support con tributed by that person. Living with someone rent free. If you live with a person rent free in his or her home, you must reduce the amount you provide for sup port of that person by the fair rental value of lodging he or she provides you. Property. Property provided as support is measured by its fair market value. Fair market value is the price that property would sell for on the open market. It is the price that would be agreed upon between a willing buyer and a will ing seller, with neither being required to act, and both having reasonable knowledge of the rele vant facts. Capital expenses. Capital items, such as furniture, appliances, and cars, bought for a person during the year can be included in total support under certain circumstances. The following examples show when a capi tal item is or is not support. Example 1. You buy a $200 power lawn mower for your 13yearold child. The child is given the duty of keeping the lawn trimmed. Be cause the lawn mower benefits all members of the household, do not include the cost of the lawn mower in the support of your child. Example 2. You buy a $150 television set as a birthday present for your 12yearold child. The television set is placed in your child's bed room. You can include the cost of the television set in the support of your child. Example 3. You pay $5,000 for a car and register it in your name. You and your 17yearold daughter use the car equally. Be cause you own the car and do not give it to your daughter but merely let her use it, do not in clude the cost of the car in your daughter's total support. However, you can include in your daughter's support your outofpocket expen ses of operating the car for her benefit. Example 4. Your 17yearold son, using personal funds, buys a car for $4,500. You pro vide the rest of your son's support — $4,000. Because the car is bought and owned by your son, the car's fair market value ($4,500) must be included in his support. Your son has provi ded more than half of his own total support of $8,500 ($4,500 + $4,000), so he is not your qualifying child. You did not provide more than half of his total support, so he is not your quali fying relative. You cannot claim an exemption for your son. Medical insurance premiums. Medical insur ance premiums you pay, including premiums for supplementary Medicare coverage, are inclu ded in the support you provide. Medical insurance benefits. Medical in surance benefits, including basic and supple mentary Medicare benefits, are not part of sup port. Tuition payments and allowances under the GI Bill. Amounts veterans receive under the GI Bill for tuition payments and allowances while they attend school are included in total support. Example. During the year, your son re ceives $2,200 from the government under the GI Bill. He uses this amount for his education. You provide the rest of his support — $2,000. Because GI benefits are included in total sup port, your son's total support is $4,200 ($2,200 + $2,000). You have not provided more than half of his support. Child care expenses. If you pay someone to provide child or dependent care, you can in clude these payments in the amount you provi ded for the support of your child or disabled de pendent, even if you claim a credit for the payments. For information on the credit, see Publication 503. Other support items. Other items may be considered as support depending on the facts in each case. Do Not Include in Total Support The following items are not included in total support. 1. Federal, state, and local income taxes paid by persons from their own income. 2. Social security and Medicare taxes paid by persons from their own income. 3. Life insurance premiums. 4. Funeral expenses. 5. Scholarships received by your child if your child is a student. 6. Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance payments used for the support of the child who receives them. Multiple Support Agreement Sometimes no one provides more than half of the support of a person. Instead, two or more persons, each of whom would be able to take the exemption but for the support test, together provide more than half of the person's support. When this happens, you can agree that any one of you who individually provides more than 10% of the person's support, but only one, can claim an exemption for that person as a qualify ing relative. Each of the others must sign a statement agreeing not to claim the exemption for that year. The person who claims the ex emption must keep these signed statements for his or her records. A multiple support declara tion identifying each of the others who agreed not to claim the exemption must be attached to the return of the person claiming the exemption. Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration, can be used for this purpose. You can claim an exemption under a multi ple support agreement for someone related to you or for someone who lived with you all year as a member of your household. Example 1. You, your sister, and your two brothers provide the entire support of your mother for the year. You provide 45%, your sis ter 35%, and your two brothers each provide 10%. Either you or your sister can claim an ex emption for your mother. The other must sign a statement agreeing not to take an exemption for your mother. The one who claims the exemp tion must attach Form 2120, or a similar decla ration, to his or her return and must keep the statement signed by the other for his or her re cords. Because neither brother provides more than 10% of the support, neither can take the exemption and neither has to sign a statement. Example 2. You and your brother each pro vide 20% of your mother's support for the year. The remaining 60% of her support is provided equally by two persons who are not related to her. She does not live with them. Because more than half of her support is provided by persons who cannot claim an exemption for her, no one can take the exemption. Example 3. Your father lives with you and receives 25% of his support from social secur ity, 40% from you, 24% from his brother (your Publication 501 (2014) Page 21