Based on his intellectual age of 8 your son would not be able to live by himself. Even though he is receiving SSI, does he have a payee for his SSI? My assumption he does because of his intellectual age. The fact that the Social Security Administration does not believe he could handle his own money and the fact that he cannot live on his own, you should be able to claim him as a dependent.
To determine if you do provide more than 50% of his support which is the cost of basic life necessities such as food, lodging, clothing, medical and dental care, education, transportation, utilities, and so forth. To determine the household costs add up the costs of utilities, groceries, lodging, etc., and divide this cost by the number of household members to determine the per-person cost.
You may be able to claim your child as a dependent regardless of age if they are permanently and totally disabled. Permanently and totally disabled: He or she cannot engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition. Generally speaking, if your SSI-collecting dependent meets all other regulations required, you can legally claim them. That said, you must account for these benefits when considering their living expenses. Special needs individual can be any age and claimed as a dependent. No gross income limitation for a “qualifying child.”
Qualifying person(s). A qualifying person is any of the following. • A qualifying child who is under age 13 whom you can claim as a dependent. If the child turned 13 during the year, the child is a qualifying person for the part of the year he or she was under age 13. • Your disabled spouse who isn’t physically or mentally able to care for themselves. • Any disabled person who wasn’t physically or mentally able to care for themselves whom you can claim as a dependent (or could claim as a dependent except that the person had gross income of $4,300 or more or filed a joint return). • Any disabled person who wasn’t physically or mentally able to care for themselves whom you could claim as a dependent except that you (or your spouse if filing jointly) could be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer's 2021 return.
What does "financially support another person" mean?
Do I support myself?
Finally, if you paid for more than half with your earned income, you supported yourself. If you used unearned income . . . to pay for most of your expenses, you did not support yourself. Unearned Income is all income that is not earned such as Social Security benefits, pensions, State disability payments, unemployment benefits, interest income, dividends and cash from friends and relatives.
Based on all the information I have provided here, you can claim your son as a dependent on your taxes.
