I've seen the rules but they don't make much sense to me (hello, Congress?)
My 23-y/o son lives with us full-time, and he's a pilot for SkyWest Airlines and made more than $4300 last year. (I fly for United). He graduated (2019) with over $200K in student loan expenses (most notably, flight training expenses) so we're trying to help him get on his feet financially as his student loan payments take a bit over 90% of his monthly pay. Thus, I/we pay for almost all of his food (except when he eats out or visits with friends), his monthly car insurance, his monthly cell phone service, all utilities (elec, water, gas, a/c, internet + TV) while he "only" pays for his student loans and a furniture storage unit. Hence we pay for nearly all of his expenses (well over half) and he will likely continue to live with us for a few more years. So he will be "dependent" on us to make it through the next few years and we'll continue paying for nearly all of his expenses: we're glad to have him at home and don't mind doing so but thought since we cover nearly 100% of his monthly/annual living expenses, we should be able to list him as and claim him as a dependent. This only seems reasonable and certainly passes the "Common Sense" test.
However, while working on my taxes it says he doesn't qualify as my dependent: that seems patently absurd considering the $$ we pay to cover his monthly/annual living expenses and the conditions under which he lives with us.
Am I missing something, or is there some vehicle/protocol for "pleading" my case or requesting a waiver to list him as my/our dependent???
Thanks!
