W-2 and can I claim my son if he is 18 and graduated in may of 2016 has a full time job in august of 2016. I paid for housing but he helped with his bills car insurance ,cell and clothes.

[Anita01 · Accepted solution]

Yes, it sounds like you can.  He must meet all the qualifications below:

1.The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them. 

2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), (b) under age 24 at the end of the year, a student, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled. 

3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year.

4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year. housing and other living expenses paid by you are considered as provided by you and not him.)

5. The child must not be filing a joint return for the year (unless that joint return is filed only to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax paid). 

[zanettaharmon]

Sounds Stupid but okay, what is a joint return? Would that be the same as him filing his own return on his w2's he got from his job?

[Anita01]

Not at all.  If he were married, he could then be filing a joint return with his spouse. (I realize he's young, but we have to cover all bases).  
To file his own W-2s, all he needs to do is file a return and make sure he checks that someone else is claiming him as a dependent.

[zanettaharmon]

Thank you for your help. 🙂