Claim son as a dependent if he’s a college student and works

[Val7]

Hello, 

I’ve been claiming my son for the past two years. He is a full time college student but also works. In 2019 he made $21,000. I paid for his expenses as he still lives with me. Can I still keep claiming him or will I not be able to because of how much he made? 
thank you so much in advance. 

[KatrinaB48]

It depends on what he did with the money he earned, his age at the end of last year, and his student status during 2019. He must not have used his money to provide more than half of his own support, he must have been 23 on 12/31/19, and he must have been a full-time student for at least five months. His student status is determined by his school. Please view the rules for claiming a dependent for more information.

[Val7]

@KatrinaB48 He was 20 years old, full time student and is saving it. He did not used his money for more than half of his support, I did. 

[TomD8]

Also - with $21,000 in income, he must file his own tax return regardless of whether or not you claim him as a dependent.

If he qualifies as your dependent, he must indicate on his own return that someone else can claim him.

[Val7]

@TomD8 Yes he will put on his taxes that I will claim him. My question is if I can claim him with as much as he made.? Is there a limit to how much one can make so I can report him as a dependent? Thanks

[TomD8]

The issue isn't how much he made.  The IRS doesn't have an upper income limit for a person to be a "Qualifying Child."  The issue is how much did he contribute to his own support (food, clothing, rent, etc).  

For example, if his support cost $10,000 for the year, did he contribute more than $5,000 towards that?

Page 15 of this IRS Publication has a worksheet for determining support:  https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

[Val7]

@TomD8 @No he did not. I paid for more than half of his expenses. 

[MayaD]

If your son didn't pay for more than half of his support then yes, you can claim him as a dependent as long as he meets all the other requirement of Qualified Child. 

[Val7]

@MayaD okay so there’s no limit on how much he makes if he made $21,000 I can still claim him on my taxes if I paid for more than half his expenses and he’s a full time student and 20 years old? 

thank you so much in advance @MayaD 

[LeonardS]

Yes, you can claim your son.  If he has a part-time job and made more than the standard deduction amount for the tax year ($12,200 in 2019), he is required to file this own tax return. You can still claim him as a dependent.