Claim Dependent Child

[mle4]

My daughter turned 24 in 2025 she still lives at home, goes to school and has no bills. However, she goes to school on line and also worked. She made roughly 30,000, in 2025 before she quit. For taxes, since she is over 5k it says she is a nondependent. Does this mean she can now claim herself on her taxes? She is still on our insurance, can she still stay on that till she is 26  even though she is now considered a non dependent. She is no longer working and not sure if she will return to work in 2026.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

Your daughter can still be on your health insurance until she is 26.  That has nothing to do with being claimed as a dependent on a tax return.  She is too old and had too much income to be claimed as anyone else's dependent.   She can file her own tax return to seek a refund of tax withheld.   She cannot be claimed as a dependent for tax year 2025.   

[mle4]

My other daughter who is 20, also a fulltime student, also made roughly 30,000 can we still claim her?

[xmasbaby0]

If your 20 year old is a full-time student, she can be claimed as a qualifying child dependent on your tax return.  She can file a tax return of her own, but must say on her return that she can be claimed as someone else's dependent.

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2025 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.

Qualifying relative

• They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
• 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 lived with you the entire year (exceptions apply).
• They made less than $5200 in 2025 (not counting Social Security)
• You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a dependent.

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

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