Can we claim my son as a dependent, does not live with us, but we provided 100% support?

[triff]

Can he also file himself and claim the child care tax credit?

[SweetieJean]

How old is he?  And how do you provide 100% of his support if he does not live with you?  Do you pay for his housing, utilities, food, etc?

[SweetieJean]

"Can he also file himself and claim the child care tax credit?"  If he qualifies is your dependent, he cannot claim dependents of his own.

[triff]

he is 53 years old and suffers with a medical problem and has not received disability yet and we have paid 100% of his expenses, house payment, insurance, all utilities etc.

[Critter1]

If he qualifies as your dependent and for the Child Tax Credit then you may claim both of them. See form 2441 rules here: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2441.pdf">https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i2441.pdf</a>

[triff]

I meant the child tax credit, not child care credit

[TaxGuyBill]

He must be under age 17 for you to receive the Child Tax Credit.

[triff]

I am not asking if we can claim the credit, but can we claim our 53 year old son on our taxes and can he still file, claiming his 17 year old daughter as a dependent and get the child tax credit?

[TaxGuyBill]

Sorry, I misunderstood.

No, he can't.  First thing is the the daughter is 17, which is too old.  Second, if he is ABLE to be claimed a dependent, he can not claim a dependent.

If there isn't another adult in the home with them, you might be able to also claim his daughter as a dependent, but not for the Child Tax Credit.

[triff]

he is 53 and yes we paid his house payment utilities child support all of it

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

A dependent cannot claim someone else as a dependent on their tax return so they could not claim any child care credit.

If your son is age 19 or older and not a full time student, then you would only be able to claim him as a dependent under the Qualifying Relative rules if he meets all the requirements.

Qualifying Relative -

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.

2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household. 

3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,000 (social security does not count) in 2015

4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.

5. The person must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S., Canada, or Mexico resident for some part of the year.

6. The person must not file a joint return with their spouse.

[SweetieJean]

See this IRS support worksheet:
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf...>

[tina-whitaker]

I just have another question regarding this. If my daughter was on a fulltime mission for all of 2015, not living at home she is over the age of 19. Is she considered a student and can we claim her?

[DoninGA]

No, she was not a full time student if she was not enrolled in a post-secondary educational institution where for at least 5 months of the year and she was classified as a full time student.
However, if she did not have gross income of $4,000 or more for 2015, you would be able to claim her under the Qualifying Relative rules if she was not a full time student in 2015.  If she did have gross income of $4,000 or more you would not be able to claim her as a dependent on your tax return.