You may claim your daughter if she did not make more than $4,050 in 2016 and the conditions for the IRS Qualifying Relative test below have been met:
Qualifying Relative
These 4 tests (all of them) will qualify a relative as a
dependent:
-
Not Qualifying Child: They are not
your or another taxpayer’s “qualifying child”
-
Gross
Income: Dependent has to earn
less than $4,050 in 2016.
-
Total
Support: You provide more
than half of the total support for the year.
-
Member
of Household or Relationship: The person (a friend, girlfriend,
non blood relative) must live with
you all year as a member of your household or be one of the relatives
that doesn’t have to live with you (mother, father, brother, sister, aunt,
uncle, stepmother, stepfather, your child, stepchild, foster child, adopted
child, etc) Note: this list is not all inclusive.
If you try and efile your tax return and it gets rejected because your daughter has already filed her tax return claiming herself, you can always paper-file your return claiming your daughter. The IRS will most likely investigate as to who rightfully can claim your daughter, and the individual that incorrectly filed will have to amend their tax return, pay additional taxes, interest and a penalty.
