Maybe, but probably not.
There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each**.
You can only claim your brother as a qualifying relative if you provided more than half his support. That is unlikely if grandma is providing food and shelter. To be a qualifying child, you do not need to have provided support. But, you must have lived with the child for more than half the year.
First we need to know where YOU reside. You say "I was still in school and my lease is not over for my one bedroom apartment". I take that to mean you are "away at school". Students temporarily away at school are considered to still reside with their parent. If grandma's house is your permanent residence, you are considered to be residing with your brother and can claim him as a QC. But if you continued to reside in your apt. after graduating, that time does not count as living with your brother.
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.A child closely related to a taxpayer can be a “Qualifying Child (QC)” dependent, regardless of the child's income, if:
- 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
- He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support
- He lived with the relative (including temporary absences) for more than half the year
- He is younger than the relative (not applicable for a disabled child)
Rules 5 & 6 are not applicable in your case.
- 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)
- 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.
