Daughter was a full time student in 2016, lived with my all of 2016, but made more than $4,000. Why is she not considered a dependent?

[DDollar · Accepted solution]

There is not enough information to determine why your daughter didn't qualify as a dependent.  Five tests must be met for a child to be your qualifying child to claim and exemption. The five tests are:

1. Relationship,

2. Age,

3. Residency,

4. Support, and

5. Joint return.

For additional information see Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information

For an interactive IRS tool to determine if your child qualifies as a Dependent see:  Who Can I Claim as a Dependent?

If you determine that your daughter should qualify as a dependent, Revisit the Personal Information section of the program and ensure you correctly entered all information related to your daughter.

[Hal_Al]

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, a relationship test and a residence test. Only a QC qualifies the taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit. 

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled

2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are considered third party support and not as support provided by the student.

3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

If she is over age 23, the income test kicks in. if she has more than $4050 of taxable income, she cannot be your dependent.