To claim a person as a dependent, they need to be your “Qualifying child” or “Qualifying Relative”.
A person can only be claimed by one taxpayer. If the person is claimed as a dependent, they can still file a tax return, but they must mark that someone else is claiming them.
Qualifying child
RELATIONSHIP: A qualifying child can be your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, adopted child or an offspring of any of them.
AGE: The child must be younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), AND at the end of the tax year, your child must have been under age 19 (or under 24 if a full-time student). There is no age limit if your child is permanently and totally disabled.
RESIDENCY: Your child must live with you for more than half the year. There are exceptions, such as being away at school, serving in the military, hospitalization and nursing home situations.
SUPPORT: Your child may not have provided more than half of their own support. Scholarships and grants are not considered as support provided by the student.
JOINT RETURN: Your child cannot file on a “Married Filing Jointly” return. (The exception is if they only file to claim a refund)
Are you the only person claiming them? This requirement commonly applies to children of divorced parents. Here you must use the “tie breaker rules,” which are found in IRS Publication 501. These rules establish income, parentage and residency requirements for claiming a child.
Parents might also file an agreement allowing the non-custodial parent to claim a child.
Qualifying relative
NOT A QUALIFYING CHILD: If this person can be claimed as the qualifying child by a different taxpayer, this person cannot be claimed as a Qualifying Relative.
RESIDENCY: This person must live with you for the entire year, unless they are a “relative who does not live with you”. You can find a list in Publication 501. Your parent does not need to live with you if you support them.
GROSS INCOME: This person cannot have a gross income of more than $4,200 in 2019 and be claimed by you as a dependent.
SUPPORT: You must have provided more than half of this person’s support for the year.
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