We have claimed our grandson for the last 15 years or so. He joined the Navy on June 11, 2024. Are we able to claim him as a dependent for t=6 months.

[Vanessa A]

No.  If your grandson has been in the Navy since June, you would not be able to claim him as a dependent as he would be over 18 years old, and not a full time student, which means he would need to earn less than $5,050 for the year in order to claim him. 

To claim someone as a Qualifying Relative, they must be:

• Your child ( including step children, adoptive children and foster children) or a descendent of them
• Your sibling (including half siblings) or a child of your sibling or a sibling-in-law
• Your parent or grandparents, including step parents and in laws
• Any other person that lived with you for the entire tax year
• Not a qualifying child of another taxpayer
• Someone that you provided over half of their support for during the tax year
• Has less than $5,050 in income (not counting social security)

The following criteria must be met to claim someone as a qualifying child:

• Your child (including adopted and foster children), your sibling, or a descendent of any of them.
• Age 18 or younger at the end of the tax year OR under 24 (and younger than you and your spouse) if they are a full-time student
• Lived with you for more than 6 months during the tax year
• They did not provide more than half of their own support (social security does not count)
• They did not file a joint return, unless it was to claim a refund
• Have a social security number that is valid for employment

[Hal_Al]

Q. He joined the Navy on June 11, 2024. Are we able to claim him as a dependent for 6 months.

A. No. Half year or part year dependents are not allowed. It's all or nothing.

Q. Are we able to claim him as a dependent for 2024?

A. Probably. It depends on more info.

-How old was he on 12-324?

-Was he still in school (high school counts), Jan-May (even to May 1st)  prior to joining the Navy?

-Did he still live with you prior to going off to boot camp?

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

A child (or grandchild) of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school or military training) for more than half the year

If he doesn't meet the rules for being a QC, he would have to have less than $5050 of income to be considered under the QR rules.