Undo. You MAY still be able to claim him/her.
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. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.
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 (high school counts) 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. Military training is considered as a temporary absence, He is not considered as moved out until he gets his Permanent Duty Station
So, it doesn't matter how much he earned. What matters is how much he spent
on support. Money he put into savings does not count as support he spent on him
self. The support value of the home you provided is the fair market rental value
of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of
occupants.
If he does not meet the rules for a QC, he will have to have had less than $4050 income for the year to be a qualifying relative for 2016.
