Hello and thank you for your question. If your dependent child meets the qualifications, you may be able to claim them on your return. Due to the amount of $15,000 income he will be required to file a tax return. If you claim him and he is required to file a tax return then he will need to ensure he marks that he can be claimed as a dependent. I briefly discussed qualifications of a dependent above, but the link below will have more detail and explanation (filing requirements, earned income, invetment income, etc.). Have a good day!
Thank you for your response. I filed his taxes and checked he could be claimed as a dependent; however, when filling out my tax forms, it wouldn't let me claim him anywhere. It kept telling me I couldn't claim him.
Let me give you a bit more specific, detailed information on the dependent rules that apply to your son. This might help explain what you are seeing in the software.
A child with $15,000 income could still be your dependent if they are considered a Qualifying Child.
For a child between ages 19-23, they are only a "Qualifying Child" if they are a full-time student. So if your son attended college full-time for at least 5 months of the year in 2022, he would still be a Qualifying Child.
A child that is 19-23 is not a Qualifying Child if they are not a full-time student. This is due to the age limits for a Qualifying Child.
A child that is 24 or older cannot be a Qualifying Child unless they are permanently and totally disabled. Student status no longer impacts qualifying for a person that is 24+.
A child that does not meet the Qualifying Child rules due to age, would potentially be a dependent under the rules for Qualifying Relative. However, to be a Qualifying Relative dependent, someone must have earned less than $4400 of taxable income during 2022. Since your son earned more than this amount he doesn't meet the definition of a Qualifying Relative.
So, to sum this all up - if your son doesn't meet the age requirement to be a Qualifying Child, he earned too much money to be your dependent.