My daughter turned 18 in June. She had a job for 3 months and she kept her own money and I continued to pay for rent food, etc. Can I claim her?

[yomama05301978]

She held a job for 3 months but did not contribute to rent or food (besides buying lunch for herself when she went out with friends) and bought her own clothing.

[NCperson]

how much did she earn? if she earned more than $4300 and is not a full time student, the answer is no...it is best to just use this IRS tool as it is the source! 

will take under 5 minutes to fill out 

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent

[Critter-3]

Until she turns 19 her income is immaterial as long as she is not self supporting.   Follow the interview questions in the dependent section and the program will figure this out for you. 

[Hal_Al]

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 but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit (if under 17). They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

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 considered third party support and not as support provided by the student.
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) 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.

The support value of the home, provided by the parent, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

Furthermore, there is a rule that says IF somebody else CAN claim him as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim himself. If he has sufficient income (usually more than $12,400), he can & should still file taxes. In TurboTax, he indicates that somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information section.  TT will check that box on form 1040.

Even if he had less, he is allowed to file if he needs to get back income tax withholding. He cannot get back social security or Medicare tax withholding.

[Hal_Al]

BUT

For 2020 there is the issue of the stimulus payment.  If she is your dependent, for 2020, she doe not qualify for the $1800 stimulus, on her own return. 

You get  the $500 other dependent credit and maybe some EIC, but she misses out on the $1800.

Technically, it's not optional.  If she qualifies as your dependent, she is not allowed to file as a non-dependent.