Can I claim my 23 year old son who lives with me but made over $4,050 in 2016 but was a full time student? He withdrew from a class before the semester ended, so does that may a difference?

[Phillip1 · Accepted solution]

You may not be able to claim him. The requirements to claim your son (as a qualifying child dependent) are as follows:

• He is between the ages of 19 and 24 (23 is the last year that this applies),

• He was a full time student for 2016

• To be a student, they must be, during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year:

• A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body at the school, or

• A student taking a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school described in (1), or by a state, county, or local government agency.

• The 5 calendar months don't have to be consecutive.

• He did not provide more than half of his own support.

• This test is different from the support test to be a qualifying relative, which is described later. However, to see what is or isn't support, see Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Relative) , later. If you aren't sure whether a child provided more than half of his or her own support, you may find Worksheet 2 helpful.

• He did not file a joint tax return.

• An exception to the joint return test applies if your child and his or her spouse file a joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid.

The issue that will most like prevent you from claiming him is if he was enrolled for a full five months or not. If he only attended part of one semester (usually less than 5 months) you would be out of luck claiming him as a dependent. He does not qualify as a qualifying relative dependent because he made more than 4,050 dollars.