"The easiest way to figure out who may
claim a dependent is to enter information in TurboTax, and the program will
determine if you can claim the children".
Your Two possibilities to claim a dependent are as follows:
You may be able to claim your [son/daughter] as a
Qualifying Child dependent if:
- The
child must be related to you. The 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.
- Your
child must be under age 19 or, if a full-time student, under age 24. There
is no age limit if your child is permanently and totally disabled.
- Your
child must live with you for more than half the year, but several
exceptions apply (i.e., away at school).
- The
child cannot provide more than half of his/her support.
- You
must be the only person claiming the child
- The
child must be a US
citizen, resident alien, national, or resident of Mexico
or Canada.
- The
child cannot file a joint return with his or her spouse.
You may be able to claim your [son/daughter] as a
Qualifying Relative dependent if:
- You
provided more than half of his/her support in 2016
- He/She
earned less than $4,050 in gross taxable income. (Social Security income
generally doesn’t count here.)
- He/She
lives with you 365 days in the year or is related to you.
- He/She
isn’t a dependent on someone else’s tax return.
- He/She
isn’t filing a tax return with a spouse (married filing jointly).
- He/She
is a U.S.
citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident
You can’t claim a dependent if you are a dependent on
someone else’s taxes
See Rules
For Claiming Dependents
