25 yr old daughter has been unemployed since January. I have been paying for her ever since then. We are now both in school, can I claim her for this years tax season?

[njvaokaz]

Quit job. I am also paying for her school tuition along with mine.

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

Yes, probably. See full rules below, particularly #2 and #3.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("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 and the Child Tax Credit. 

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.

Your daughter is too old to be a QC (she's over 23).  So, you look to see if she qualifies as a qualifying relative.  

A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:

1. Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year
2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4700 (2023) ($4400  for 2022).
3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support

In either case:

4. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
5. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own
6. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer

A qualifying relative  gets the parent the (up to) $500 Other dependent Credit.  Since she is your dependent, you can also claim the education credit on her tuition. 

See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Ret...

[NCperson]

@njvaokaz simply run your scenario through the offical IRS dependency tool.  it'll take under 5 minutes 

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent