Hal_Al
Level 15

Get your taxes done using TurboTax

You originally said you have no income.  In that case, your mom can and should claim both you and your child.

 

Then you say didn’t have any on the books income.  All income is reportable. The IRS considers undocumented cash income (no W-2 or 1099-MISC), for work performed, to be self employment income.  It is also earned income for the refundable credits.  On the other hand, the IRS is suspicious of low amounts of undocumented income, that just happens to qualify a tax filer for refundable credits. You should keep good records of your income if you're going to claim it. 

 

Depending on how much income you have, your mom can still claim you (if less than $4200). In either case, it's optional which one of you claims the child.