Education

How old were you on December 31? Why will you not be claimed?  Do you live with your parents?  How did you receive your home schooling?  
 

If you only paid for medical expenses, clothing and other personal expenses, that may not be enough to say that you paid for over half of your expenses.  Support also includes housing, utilities, food and education. 

If you were 18 at the end of 2025, being a student does not change your ability to be claimed as a dependent.  

Was it online via a school with a regular teaching staff, a course of study and a student body or something else? This is the criteria for the schooling that would be required for you to be considered a full time student
If your schooling was informal such as your parents were teaching you based on what they felt you needed to learn, this would not be considered a full time student.  

If you only have disability income, then you would not need to file a return.  Also, if you are considered totally and permanently disabled, then your parents would be able to claim you as a dependent regardless of your age as long as you did not provide over half of your own support and lived with them for more than half of the year. 

To claim someone as a Qualifying Relative, they must be:

• Your child ( including step children, adoptive children and foster children) or a descendent of them
• Your sibling (including half siblings) or a child of your sibling or a sibling-in-law
• Your parent or grandparents, including step parents and in laws
• Any other person that lived with you for the entire tax year
• Not a qualifying child of another taxpayer
• Someone that you provided over half of their support for during the tax year
• Has less than $5,200 in income (not counting social security)

The following criteria must be met to claim someone as a qualifying child:

• Your child (including adopted and foster children), your sibling, or a descendent of any of them.
• Age 18 or younger at the end of the tax year OR under 24 (and younger than you and your spouse) if they are a full-time student or any age if they are totally and permanently disabled
• Lived with you for more than 6 months during the tax year
• They did not provide more than half of their own support (social security does not count)
• They did not file a joint return, unless it was to claim a refund