A child can be the “qualifying child” dependent of any close
relative in the household. If
you and the parent live together, either one of you (but not both) may
claim the child. You may decide between you which one will claim the child.
Only if you can’t agree, do the IRS tie breaker rules apply, to see who has
first choice. It may be worthwhile to prepare trial returns, both ways, to see which way the family comes out best.
This tool may be useful: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/?s=1..
But the full rules need to be met.
.A child closely related to a taxpayer can be a
“Qualifying Child (QC)” dependent, regardless of the child's income, if:
1.
He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time
student for at least 5 months of the year, or
is totally & permanently disabled
2.
He did not provide more than 1/2 his own
support
3.
He lived with the relative (including temporary
absences) for more than half the year
4.
He is younger than the relative (not applicable
for a disabled child)
5.
If the
child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you
must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child (this
essentially means that you have the parent’s permission to claim the child, if the child also lived with the
parent more than half the year)
6.
If the parents of a child
can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent so claims the child, no
one else can claim the child as a qualifying child unless that person's
adjusted gross income (AGI) is higher than the highest AGI of any of the
child's parents who can claim the child.
