Can I claim for the full year?

[Ashtinj1]

Can I claim my niece for the full year if she was born on September 26th 2023 and left on December 19th 2023? 

[TomK2023]

It depends.  

You can claim a child, relative, friend, fiancé(e), and so on as a dependent on your 2023 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 US 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).
  • There's 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 US 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 (exceptions apply).
• They made less than $4,700 in 2023.
• 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.

[Edited 1/25/24 | 12:02PM]

@Ashtinj1 

@Mike9241 

[Ashtinj1]

That’s crazy that she wouldn’t quality for not being with me for 1 week.

[Mike9241]

Please explain why you rather than the child's parent wants to claim the child. 

[Ashtinj1]

She lived with me since birth, she had a lot of problems due to the mother. She left my care on December 19th because she was put into a specialized foster care because she had more needs than I could provide. The parents never had custody of her. I had her since the NICU.

[TomK2023]

Thank you for the additional information.  Is someone else trying to claim her?  Were you responsible for all of her medical expenses?

I am changing my initial answer to: It depends.   Enter your niece's information in the program.

IRS Website - Child Tax Credit

@Ashtinj1 

[Mike9241]

The isssue now becomes her residency. Normally she would have to live with you since birth. Temporary absences due to illness/medical condition are ignored. 

It must be reasonable to assume that the absent person will return to the home after the temporary absence.

This information is found in the Filing Status chapter of Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax.

[Ashtinj1]

I don’t think anyone else would be trying to claim her unless foster care will, but they only had her for a week of the year. She was also on Medicaid thankfully.

[Mike9241]

it would seem that if her absence is temporary, she would be your qualifying child for 2023. She would be at best a qualifying relative for the foster parents. however, betwwem taxpayer(s)  that can claim a person as a qualifying child and taxpayer(s) that can claim a person as a qualifying relative, the tax laws say the taxpayer(s) who can claim the person as a qualifying child are the ones to claimn the person. That means your right to claim her is superior to theirs. Also, there is nothing you can do to prevent them from claiming her. If they claim her and file first and you also claim her you will have to mail in your return. If both claim., eventually both parties will get letters from the IRS asking for info and documnetation they're entitle to claim her. Based on what's s submitted the IRS determines the proper party and sends a bill to the other.