24 year-old child was accepted by turbotax as a dependent? why?

[MST2]

My son was born on 09/28/1998. He is a college student but not disabled. Turbotax allowed me to add him as a dependent for 2022 tax year and allowed me to have a head of household status. This is confusing to me. I think the rule is that since he turned 24 on 2022, I cannot claim him as a dependent for 2022 tax year. I am not sure why Turbotax allowed him as a depenedent...any ideas?

[xmasbaby0]

If your son had more than $4400 of income in 2022 he cannot be claimed as anyone else's dependent.  How much did he make in 2022?

[MST2]

He made less than 4400 and I answered that correctly. The problem is that Turbotax knows his exact birthdate and failed to flag him as too old to be claimed. This is a bug in the software in my opinion...a big one.

[xmasbaby0]

Even if he was 24 at the end of 2022, if his income was less than $4400 he can be claimed as a qualifying relative dependent.  It is not a mistake.   You can still get the $500 credit for other dependents for him because he had too little income.  

CREDIT FOR OTHER DEPENDENTS

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/4499708-what-is-the-500-credit-for-other-dependents-family-tax-cre...

[MST2]

The link you provided, along with other articles from IRS states that the child has to be "under" 24 years of age at the end of the tax year. In other words, if the child turns 24 at any time during 2022 (as my son did), he is no longer eligible to be a dependent. This is a serious bug in Turbotax. 

I am not concerned about the tax credit...the problem is that if I follow Turbotax's path, I will pay tax as "head of household" as opposed to "single". This will come back and bite me.

[VolvoGirl]

Has to be under 24 and a full time student.  If he is over 24 he can be claimed as an Other Dependent if he had less than $4,400 total income for the year.  Did you expand & read both points in that link?

[xmasbaby0]

Sorry---you are just not reading closely or carefully enough.   Yes, he was 24.  You yourself say that he had less than $4400 of income for 2022.  That small income is the criteria that allows you to claim him as a dependent if you paid over half his support.  You do not HAVE to claim him.  You can remove his information from your tax return if you want to.   Go to Personal Info and delete him if you do not think we know the tax law or that TT's software is not following the tax law.   

Are you aware that many folks claim adult dependents who are over the age of 23-----like their girlfriends, boyfriends, parents, etc.?   And they are able to do that because the adult they are claiming had less than $4400 of income, despite their age.

If you have a qualified dependent who is RELATED  to you---like a son----you can file as head of household.

Am I Head of Household?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894553-do-i-qualify-for-head-of-household

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2900097-what-is-a-qualifying-person-for-head-of-household

If you qualify as Head of Household, when you enter your marital status (single or married filing separately) into MyInfo, and then enter your qualifying dependent, TurboTax will offer HOH as your filing status.

[VolvoGirl]

Who is a qualifying person for Head of Household

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/family/help/what-is-a-qualifying-person-for-head-of-household/00/2...

it says.......

A child that is too old to qualify as a child might be able to qualify as a relative for Head of Household.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

@MST2 

I think you are only looking at the criteria for claiming your son as a qualifying child.   He is not a qualifying child.  But he can still be a qualifying relative.   That is a different kind of dependent---and he can be older than 23 to be a qualifying relative.   And....he can be your qualified relative for HOH filing status----which is a good tax break for you.   It means less of your income is taxed.

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2022 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 (exceptions apply).
• They made less than $4,400 in 2022.
• 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.

Related Information:

• What does "financially support another person" mean?
• What is a "qualifying person" for Head of Household?

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("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.

Your son cannot be a QC because he is too old.  But he can still be a Qualifying Relative, if his income was less than $4400.   TurboTax is doing it right. 

[MST2]

Thank you everyone for your clear explanations....I appreciate the wisdom.