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Can my son claim his siblings since he helped pay for most of the bills?

My son lived with me for 9 months in 2018, can he claim his siblings on his taxes?

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Accepted Solutions
DanielV01
Expert Alumni

Can my son claim his siblings since he helped pay for most of the bills?

It depends.  On the surface, he seems to qualify, but there is an important caveat.  Here are the five requirements that determine a qualifying child:

  1. Age.  Each dependent must be under 19 as of December 31, 2018, or under 24 if any was a student (for argument's sake, let's assume this is true).
  2. Residency.  The siblings must live with their brother for at least 6 months (and you state it was for 9)
  3. Support.  The siblings could not have provided half of their own support (not likely if you and your son took care of most of the bills).
  4. None of the siblings are filing as Married Filing Joint (I'm under the understanding that they are likely all unmarried).
  5. Qualified relationship.  sibling is a qualified relationship for this test.

However, with regards to the last test, there are two caveats.  Your son must be older than any siblings he might be claiming.  While this is likely the case, a more important test is that your son must have more income than you.  If you have more income, only you are allowed to claim the dependents in question.

However, if he does have higher income than you and all of the siblings are younger than him, he may in fact claim any or all of them on his return.

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1 Reply
DanielV01
Expert Alumni

Can my son claim his siblings since he helped pay for most of the bills?

It depends.  On the surface, he seems to qualify, but there is an important caveat.  Here are the five requirements that determine a qualifying child:

  1. Age.  Each dependent must be under 19 as of December 31, 2018, or under 24 if any was a student (for argument's sake, let's assume this is true).
  2. Residency.  The siblings must live with their brother for at least 6 months (and you state it was for 9)
  3. Support.  The siblings could not have provided half of their own support (not likely if you and your son took care of most of the bills).
  4. None of the siblings are filing as Married Filing Joint (I'm under the understanding that they are likely all unmarried).
  5. Qualified relationship.  sibling is a qualified relationship for this test.

However, with regards to the last test, there are two caveats.  Your son must be older than any siblings he might be claiming.  While this is likely the case, a more important test is that your son must have more income than you.  If you have more income, only you are allowed to claim the dependents in question.

However, if he does have higher income than you and all of the siblings are younger than him, he may in fact claim any or all of them on his return.

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"

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