topic My son joined the Military on 9/9/19 my question is Do I claim him on my taxes since he lived with me until he left. in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

My son joined the Military on 9/9/19 my question is Do I claim him on my taxes since he lived with me until he left.

vickikirker — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 16:32:24 GMT

Re: My son joined the Military on 9/9/19 my question is Do I claim him on my taxes since he lived...

TomK100 — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 16:50:28 GMT

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2019

taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

They're related to you.
They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).
- No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.
They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

Qualifying relative

They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
They lived with you the entire year.
They made less than $4,200 in 2019.
You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a dependent.

Re: My son joined the Military on 9/9/19 my question is Do I claim him on my taxes since he lived...

helpmeplease1234 — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 15:24:22 GMT

what if they are a full-time student for half of the year before they entered the military? so 5 of the 6 requirements are solid, but the 6th is not so clear. They are full time students for 1/2 year not the full year and 19 years old at end of year. lived at home more than 1/2 year, made just over $6K, us citizen, etc. can still be claimed as dependent to parent?

Re: My son joined the Military on 9/9/19 my question is Do I claim him on my taxes since he lived...

DMarkM1 — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 15:35:24 GMT

Sounds like he is still a dependent since he was a student for at least 5 months and all the other tests are met. Here is an extract from IRS Publication 501.

"Student defined.

To qualify as a student, your child must be, during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year:

A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body at the school; or
A student taking a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school described in (1), or by a state, county, or local government agency.

The 5 calendar months don't have to be consecutive.

Full-time student.

A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance.

School defined.

A school can be an elementary school, junior or senior high school, college, university, or technical, trade, or mechanical school. However, an on-the-job training course, correspondence school, or school offering courses only through the Internet doesn't count as a school."