[Tax Year 2019] My son joined the military on July 1st. He lived with me until he left. He is making his own money in the army, but he was a student until May 2015. How do I file tax?

[ckleslie]

Does the amount of money he made for 2021 matter when it comes to claiming him as a dependent? 

[Hal_Al]

Q.  Does the amount of money he made for 2021 matter when it comes to claiming him as a dependent? 

A. No. In your case, he is a "qualifying child" type dependent*.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC, as there is for a qualifying relative. But there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school or military training) for more than half the year

So, it doesn't matter how much he earned. What matters is how much he spent on support. Money he put into savings does not count as support he spent on him self.

See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Ret...

*but because of his age he does not qualify for the Child Tax credit, only the "other dependent credit