Claiming a Dependent

moseelig62 · ‎May 31, 2019

Appears my son filed a tax return claiming a personal exemption; which means I am not able to claim him as a dependent. He lived with me for 6 months of 2016 before leaving for the Navy (1/1/16 - 6/14/16 -approx). He filed with Turbo Tax; is he able to change his return so that I am able to claim him for a portion of 2016?

AmyT · ‎May 31, 2019

Your son can amend his return to remove the claim of exemption for himself.

Please be aware that this is a time-consuming process, as all amended returns must be paper filed. These take longer for the IRS to process than e-filed returns.

If your son amends his return, you should file a paper return yourself claiming him as a dependent.

Note - dependency is an all-or-nothing classification. He is either your dependent or he is not (for IRS purposes), so only one of you will claim him for the full year.

View solution in original post

AmyT · ‎May 31, 2019

Your son can amend his return to remove the claim of exemption for himself.

Please be aware that this is a time-consuming process, as all amended returns must be paper filed. These take longer for the IRS to process than e-filed returns.

If your son amends his return, you should file a paper return yourself claiming him as a dependent.

Note - dependency is an all-or-nothing classification. He is either your dependent or he is not (for IRS purposes), so only one of you will claim him for the full year.