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Do I get to claim my oldest son. He is 18, in high school. works part time, court order for me to claim him every year. and I pain child support all of 2018.
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Get your taxes done using TurboTax
Yes you can claim your son as a dependent as long as he did not provide more than half of his own support for the year, live with you, and meets the rest of the requirements for a qualifying child--relationship, age, residency, support, and joint return.
1. Relationship - He's your son -- no problem there.
2. Age - A child must be:
- Under age 19 at the end of the year;
- A student under age 24 at the end of the year. [According to IRS Pub. 501: "To qualify as a student, your child must be, during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year… The 5 calendar months don't have to be consecutive."];
- Permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, regardless of age.
3. Residency - Your child must have lived with you for more than half the year. [Being away at college is still considered living with you (for tax purposes).]
4. Support - The child can't have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. Joint return - To meet this test, the child can't file a joint return for the year.
If he does not meet the requirements of a Qualifying Child, you may claim him as a Qualifying Relative instead. The requirements are listed page 17 of IRS Pub. 501.
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