Adult living in my second home paying no rent or expenses

[agzat]

Can I claim an adult son living in my second home if I am paying the mortage and all his living expenses. He is not disabled. I have supported him for 14 years.

[Carl]

If your son was over the age of 19 on December 31 of the tax year and is *NOT* a full time student for any one semester that started during the tax year

                                OR

If your son was over the age of 23 on Dec 31 of the tax year, then:

if he meets the rules for Qualifying Relative Dependent, you can claim him as your dependent.  There are four basic tests for him to qualify as your qualifying relative dependent. They're covered in IRS publication 501 at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf starting on page 17 of that document, 3rd column at the bottom.

[xmasbaby0]

Did your son have less than $4400 of income in 2022 -- not counting any Social Security?    You might be able to claim him as a dependent if you have paid at least half his support.  You would get the $500 credit for other dependents for claiming him.

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3113432-who-can-i-claim-as-my-dependent  

CREDIT FOR OTHER DEPENDENTS

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4499708-what-is-the-500-credit-for-other-dependents-family-tax-cre...

[NCperson]

@agzat - best to simply use the IRS dependent tool to answer your question.

There are a number of rules.  is he working?  if he is not in school and earns over $4400 (2022) or $4700 (2023) he is not your dependent, even if you are paying all his expenses. 

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

Q. Can I claim an adult son living in my second home if I am paying the mortgage and all his living expenses?

A.  Probably not.  There are two main tests for claiming an adult as a dependent: income and support.  It's fairly clear you probably meet the support*. That means he must also meet the income test. That is, he must have less than $4400 (2022) ($4700 for 2023) of reportable income for the year.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. Either gets the parent the $500 Other dependent Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

*The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

[agzat]

Thank you so much!!  

[agzat]

Thank you.