@dawnschen wrote:
@Opus 17
May I ask a related question?
Last year (for year 2022) using turbo tax, I filed my daughter's own return and parent's return. However, I did not claim her as my dependent. May I make amend for 2022 for the parents return?
The income from her part time jobs (~15k) is never reported on a parent's return since I did not mentioned she as a dependent.
Also wondering how much the limit of year 2022 for the small amounts that do not disturb the parent's ability to claim the child as a dependent
Thanks.
Best
dawn
Your return:
You always have the option of not claiming a child who would otherwise qualify. There aren't very many times where this is a good idea, but it's an option. The main situation is when your child is in college and your income is too high to claim college tuition credits. Sometimes, if your child can be claimed as a dependent but you choose not to, the child can claim the tuition credits.
Your child can be claimed as a dependent under one of two tests.
Qualifying child: Your child is under age 19, or under age 24 and a full time student; lives at home more than half the year; and does not provide more than half their own support. The child's total support includes a share of your rent or mortgage, household expenses, food, medical care, travel, entertainment, clothes, and other things you provide. A child's part-time income will rarely provide enough support to be more than half the child's total support once you add it all up, so a child having a job will usually not prevent you from claiming them. For "lives at home", the child is considered to live at home during temporary absences such as college, unless they have permanently and totally moved out and established there own place.
Qualifying relative. Your child can be a qualifying relative at any age, and live anywhere, so long as you provide more than half their total financial support and their gross taxable income is less than $4700.
Your child's return:
Income earned from working is only ever reported on the child's return in their own name. However, if the child can be claimed as a dependent (meets the qualifications for either test), then the child must answer "Yes, I can be claimed as a dependent" even if the person who could claim them has decided not to claim them. For college students, there is a second question, "Will the person who could claim you, actually claim you this year?" If the child can be claimed, but answers that they won't be claimed, they may be eligible for certain college tuition credits.
Amending
Instructions to amend a return can be found here.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/amend-change-correct-return-a...
For a child age 16 or less as of December 31 of the tax year, there is a child tax credit of up to $2000. For a child age 17 or older, the dependent credit is $500. If you amend to claim the child, but your child answered "No-one else can claim me as a dependent", then your child might also need to file an amended return to change their answer.
