A qualifying child must meet all six of the following
conditions:
- Relationship: The person must be your child,
stepchild, foster child, adopted child, brother, sister, stepbrother,
stepsister or a descendent of one of these (for example, grandchild, niece or
nephew.)
- Residence: The person must live in your home
for more than half the year. If he or she is temporarily absent, that still
counts as time living in your home. A temporary absence could be time spent at
college or boarding school, or time away for medical care, military service, or
juvenile detention. Different guidelines apply for children of divorced or
separated parents.
- Age: The person must be age 18 or under at
the end of 2016, or a full-time student age 23 or under. If the person is
disabled, there is no age limit.
- Support: The person cannot provide more than
half of his or her own support.
- Nationality: The person must be a United
States citizen; or a resident or national of the U.S., Canada or Mexico. An
adopted child that is not a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada, or Mexico
must live with you for the entire year.
- Marital status: Generally, a dependent
cannot file a joint tax return with a spouse. The only exception is when the
dependent files a joint return only to get a return of taxes paid (no tax
credits received) and, if separate returns filed, neither dependent nor spouse
would have a tax liability.
Based on the numbers you provided, your son can still be claimed by you if he passes the others "tests" listed above.
