"Can" someone claim you as a dependent

[davecohen]

The question "Can someone claim you as a dependent" has me hung up. I copied the rules listed on TurboTax site below for reference, but the key is my 19 year old son dropped out of college in April, lives with us, and had no income (pause here for laughter and despair). According to the age requirement below, he can NOT be claimed as a dependent...right (and there is no checkbox for leech) ?

• Are they related to you? The child can be your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, adopted child or an offspring of any of them.
• Do they meet the age requirement? Your child must be under age 19 or, if a full-time student, under age 24. There is no age limit if your child is permanently and totally disabled.
• Do they live with you? Your child must live with you for more than half the year, but several exceptions apply.
• Do you financially support them? Your child may have a job, but that job cannot provide more than half of her support.
• Are you the only person claiming them? This requirement commonly applies to children of divorced parents. Here you must use the “tie breaker rules,” which are found in IRS Publication 501. These rules establish income, parentage and residency requirements for claiming a child.

[DoninGA]

You should be able to claim him as your dependent but not under the Qualifying Child rules.  He can be claimed as a dependent under the Qualifying Relative rules if he meets all the requirements under the rules.  If he can be claimed then you will receive a $500 Other Dependent tax credit for him.

To be a Qualifying Relative -

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.
2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household.
3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,300 (social security does not count) in 2020
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.
5. The person must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S., Canada, or Mexico resident for some part of the year.
6. The person must not file a joint return with their spouse.

[Mike9241]

he would not be a qualifying child because he's over 19 (as of 12/31/2020)  and not a full-time student in 2020.

however, he could be a qualifying relative (ie tax law parlance for being a dependent) if

1) his gross income for 2020 less than $4,300
2) you provide over ½ his support
3) isn’t a qualifying child of another taxpayer

4) does not file a joint return 

so based on what you provided tests 1 and 2 are met. It seems likely that test 3 & 4 would also be met

if so you get to claim him as a dependent. 

[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 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.

[Carl]

I assume this is for your son's tax return, and not your tax return. If he dropped out of college in April, then because he was not under the age of 19 on Dec 31 of the tax year, he can not qualify as a dependent under the qualifying child dependent rules. He would probably qualify under the qualifying relative dependent rules.

[davecohen]

Wow - thanks for all the quick responses! Sounds like No for Qualifying Child, but Yes for Qualifying Relative. BUT: What if I do NOT want to claim him as a dependent? There are several reasons I am looking at, including health insurance - which I think would not matter if a QR - and for pulling money out of 529 plan (so not taxed at parent's rate). Does the "Can someone claim you as a dependent" on his return HAVE to be answered Yes if he would fit as QR?

[macuser_22]

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@davecohen wrote:

Wow - thanks for all the quick responses! Sounds like No for Qualifying Child, but Yes for Qualifying Relative. BUT: What if I do NOT want to claim him as a dependent? There are several reasons I am looking at, including health insurance - which I think would not matter if a QR - and for pulling money out of 529 plan (so not taxed at parent's rate). Does the "Can someone claim you as a dependent" on his return HAVE to be answered Yes if he would fit as QR?

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If he cannot be a Qualifying Child then  simply do not enter him at all if you do not want to claim him.  Nothing requires you so do so.

However, if you CAN claim him whether you do or not, he still say that he can be calmed as a dependent.

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

If you can claim  him, you are not required to do so, whether he qualifies under the qualifying child rules or the qualifying relative rules.

But, on his return, he must still check the box, on form 1040,  that says he CAN be claimed as a dependent.  That means he is not eligible for tax benefits that non dependents get.  For 2020, in particular, that means he does not get the $1800 (1200 + 600) 1st and 2nd stimulus.