Double-check your entries and make sure you have provided accurate information.
If your son was in a juvenile facility, it may be considered as a temporary absence and you may put that he lived with you the whole year. If that's not the case, you should be able to mark that he lived with you for more than 6 months base on the date that you provided.
You may be able to claim your child as a dependent depending on meeting specific IRS criteria, including: time of residency, age, student status, disability rules and that you provided more than half of his support for the year.
Here are some reasons to consider that may not let you claim your son as a Dependent:
- Someone else claimed him: if someone else has already filed a tax return and claimed him, your return will be rejected automatically.
- Custody/residency rules: Your son must have lived with you for more than half of the year.
- Incorrect SSN: Issues with a SSN (even one missing digit) will result in a rejection. Make sure you typed the correct SSN.
- Age rules: He must be under 19, or under 24 and a full time student, or any age if permanently disabled.
- Support test: He can't provide more than half of his own support (rent, food, bills)
- Filing status: If your son filed his own tax return and marked “someone else can claim me as a dependent” Incorrectly, can cause some issues.
See the link below for additional information:
requirements to claim a child
Edited [01-18-2026 at 07:27 P.M. ET]
