Can I claim my grandson

[BB330]

My teenage (18) daughter, who still lives with us as she finishes high school, has a child (18 months). The father is not providing any child support at the moment. My daughter and grandson have been living with us in our house  the entire time. My daughter has not worked at all since having the baby. Can we claim the grandson as a dependent?

[DoninGA]

You may be able to claim the grandchild and your daughter as dependents under the Qualifying Child rules if they meet all the requirements under the rules.

To be a Qualifying Child -

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, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.
7. The child must be younger than you unless disabled.

[MinhT1]

Yes.

You can claim both your daughter and grandson as dependents.

[xmasbaby0]

Yes,  you can claim your daughter and your grandchild as qualified child dependents.   If your daughter had any kind of job she can file her own tax return to seek a refund of tax withheld, but on her return she must say in MY INFO that she can be claimed as someone else's dependent.  A dependent cannot "have" a dependent---so she does not enter anything about the child on her own return.

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2024 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

• They're related to you.
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).
• No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.
• They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
• They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

To claim a grandchild as your dependent

When you enter the child’s name in My Info, you will be asked “What’s your relationship to  [child’s name]?”  

           Choose “another person”

            a drop down menu will appear that lets you choose grandchild