The IRS will not reject a mailed return. However, later in the year the IRS will request information from both you and your parent to support each of your claims about you eligibility to be claimed as a dependent. Whoever the IRS agrees with will get to keep any tax benefits they received. Whoever the IRS disagrees with will have to repay any benefits received and perhaps pay a penalty. To avoid this, one of you should prepare and file an amended return to straighten it out. If you can't agree, then the IRS will decide for you.
There are two type of dependents. Here is how your parent would decide whether or not they can claim you:
For a qualifying child dependent:
1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster chld, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.
7. The child must be younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) unless disabled.
For a qualifying relative dependent:
1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.
2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household.
3. The person's gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4,200 in 2019.
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.
5. The person must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
