@Kirstyalley42 wrote:
Hello I have a question I was wondering if my 16 year old daughter could claim her 13 year old brother. She made almost 18,000 we get food stamps but that's it. I realize HOH might not work but I've heard you could claim a sibling as long as she's older. Thank you
You have not provided enough information.
First, no one else can claim your 13 year old as a dependent if another taxpayer (you) can claim her first. You are a taxpayer if you have more than $12,950 of taxable income (for filing single) or if you have more than $19,400 of taxable income (for head of household) and are required to file a tax return, or you have less income and file a tax return for any other reason, unless the only reason you file is to claim a refund of withholding and you claim no other deductions, credits or benefits.
Basically, if you are a taxpayer, you must claim your 13 year old and your 16 year can't, even if you want to allow it.
Assuming you are not a taxpayer under the meaning of the law for 2022, your 16 year old can claim your 13 year old as a dependent if they lived in the same home more than half the year, and your 16 year old has more taxable income than you (the parent). If you live in the same home with the other parent, the same rules apply to the other parent--the 16 year old can't claim the 13 year old if the other parent is a taxpayer, and the 16 year old must have higher income than the taxpayer. If the 13 year old does not live with the other parent, you can ignore the other parent.
For purposes of claiming the 13 year old as a dependent, it is not necessary to prove the 16 year old provided any part of the 13 year old's financial support, just that they lived in the same home and the 16 year old has higher income than the parent. The 16 year old would file as single.
To file as head of household, the 16 year old would have to claim the 13 year old as a dependent and also provide more than half the total financial support of the household. Remember that food stamps and other government assistance count as support even if they are not taxable, so it may be difficult to prove the 16 year old provided more than half the total household support. But they may still be able to file as single and claim a dependent.
