Stimulus question on 18 yr old son

[lazyboyroyjr]

I have an 18 year old son that lives with us and we claim as a dependent.  I know we don't get stimulus money for him but how does he get it himself?

[xmasbaby0]

Your 18 year old does not get stimulus for himself.    Dependents do not get stimulus money.

If he had a job and has income to enter on a tax return he can file to get a refund of tax withheld.   But he must say on his own tax return that he can be claimed as someone else's dependent.   If he says he cannot be claimed --- then when YOU try to file your tax return, your own return will be rejected and you will have to file by mail.

[lazyboyroyjr]

He did work in 2018 and filed a return this past year (2019) and got a few dollars back (didn't work that much).  He is a dependent of ours.  So because he is 18, in high school, one of our dependents, we do not get stimulus for him?

[xmasbaby0]

That is correct.   You do not get stimulus money for a child who is older than 16.   The stimulus money follows the same rule as child tax credit.  You lose the child tax credit in the tax year that a child turns 17 and you do not get stimulus money for a child who was over 16 in 2020.  And since he is your dependent he does not get stimulus money himself.