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Whom can I claim as a dependent?

You can only claim a dependent who satisfies the IRS’s guidelines for qualification. This section will go into those tests and explain who qualifies and who doesn’t.

But this is only the first step. After determining whom you can claim as a dependent, another series of tests must be applied to determine what credits and deductions you’re eligible for because of the dependent.

Claiming a qualifying child as a dependent

There are potentially higher tax credits for claiming a dependent child than there are for claiming other types of dependents, such as an elderly parent.

The dependent child must satisfy the IRS’s following tests:

• Relationship: They were “your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.”
• Age: They were “under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly)”; or “under age 24 at the end of the year, a student, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly)”; or “any age if permanently and totally disabled.”
• Residence: They “must have lived with you for more than half of the year,” with exceptions for temporary absences (including kidnapping), children of parents who live separately, or children who were born or died during the year.
• Support: You must have provided more than half of the child’s support during the year.
• Child’s filing status: If the child earned any income that year, he or she has to file tax return. You can’t claim a child as a dependent if he or she is married and files a joint return unless they’re claiming a tax refund.

Claiming a qualifying relative as a dependent

Qualifying dependent relatives include anyone who satisfies a separate set of guidelines from the IRS.

Note that the key difference between this type of dependent and the qualifying child dependent is that this dependent may not have to have lived with you most of the year. For example, a child can be a qualifying relative to you, even if they’re not a qualifying child, if he or she lives apart from you.

The IRS’s guidelines for qualification are as follows:

• Relationship: Neither you nor anyone else is claiming him or her as a qualifying child dependent.
• Income: They earned a gross income of less than $4,300, for tax year 2021, which you'll report on your 2022 tax returns. (For tax year 2022, the dependent income limit to qualify will increase to $4,400.) There are some exceptions for dependents who have a disability.
• Support: You must have provided more than half of their support during the year, unless you have a multiple-support agreement for the dependent with another person, or the dependent is a child of divorced or separated parents, or is a victim of kidnapping.
• Filing status: If he or she is married and files jointly, you can’t claim him or her as a dependent.
• Legality: Your relationship to the dependent doesn’t violate local law.

Additionally, the dependent must have lived with you for the entire year (with some exceptions) unless he or she falls into one of the following categories, which are considered “relatives who don’t have to live with you” while receiving your support:

• Your child, stepchild, foster child, or grandchild, including adopted children;
• Your sibling, including half siblings and stepsiblings;
• Your parent, including step parents but not foster parents;
• You grandparent or other “direct ancestor” (like a great-grandparent);
• Your niece or nephew, including those of your half siblings;
• Your aunt or uncle;
• Your in-laws.