topic My daughter is 18 and a full time college student and lives with me. She also works 15 hours a week. Can I claim her as a dependent? Do I need to add her income. in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

My daughter is 18 and a full time college student and lives with me. She also works 15 hours a week. Can I claim her as a dependent? Do I need to add her income.

mhen511 — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 10:05:46 GMT

Re: My daughter is 18 and a full time college student and lives with me. She also works 15 hours a week. Can I claim her as a dependent? Do I need to add her income.

leeloo — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 22:19:21 GMT

Yes, you can more than likely claim her as a dependent. No, you do not enter your child's earned income on your tax return. Depending on how much she made, she may have to file her own return.

Qualifying Child

Relationship — the taxpayer’s child or stepchild (whether by blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or step-sibling, or a descendant of one of these.

Residence — has the same principal residence as the taxpayer for more than half the tax year. Exceptions apply, in certain cases, for children of divorced or separated parents, kidnapped children, temporary absences, and for children who were born or died during the year.

Age — must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year, or under the age of 24 if a full-time student for at least five months of the year, or be permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year.

Support — did not provide more than one-half of his/her own support for the year.

Single dependents—Were you either age 65 or older or blind?

No. You must file a return if any of the following apply.

1. Your unearned income was more than $1,150.
Your earned income was more than $12,950.
Your gross income was more than the larger of:
$1,150, or
Your earned income (up to $12,550) plus $400.

Re: My daughter is 18 and a full time college student and lives with me. She also works 15 hours a week. Can I claim her as a dependent? Do I need to add her income.

xmasbaby0 — Thu, 26 Jan 2023 22:14:32 GMT

MY DEPENDENT HAD A JOB

If your dependent has a W-2 for his after-school job, summer job, etc. you do not include the information on your own return. You can still claim your child as a dependent on your own return. He/she can file his own return for a refund of some of his withheld wages (he won’t get back anything for Social Security or Medicare), but MUST indicate on it that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return. (Supervise this closely or prepare it for him!)

If your dependent’s earnings were over $400 and were reported on a 1099Misc or 1099NEC then he must file a return and pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.

You might also want to use free software from the IRS Free File versions:

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/