dependent question

hi808taxes · ‎July 11, 2020

I'm preparing my son's taxes for 2019 and confused about one question. no one will be claiming him as a dependent for 2019. I'm using turbo tax and under 'You & your family" section, do I check 'none' of the above? or do I check 'someone else can claim XXXX on their tax return' and follow that with 'no one will claim XXX in 2019' ? I'm confused. please help! thank you!

Texas Roger · ‎July 11, 2020

If your son meets the requirements to be claimed by someone else, then you would check that someone else can claim him. If that someone else is not claiming him even though they could claim him, you would answer that no one will claim him in 2019.

If he does not meet the requirements to be claimed by someone else, check the none of the above box.

Here are the requirements for two different kinds of dependents:

Qualifying Child

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster chld, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.
7. The child must be younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) unless disabled.

Qualifying Relative

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.
2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household.
3. The person's gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4,200 in 2019.
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.
5. The person must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.

View solution in original post

Texas Roger · ‎July 11, 2020

If your son meets the requirements to be claimed by someone else, then you would check that someone else can claim him. If that someone else is not claiming him even though they could claim him, you would answer that no one will claim him in 2019.

If he does not meet the requirements to be claimed by someone else, check the none of the above box.

Here are the requirements for two different kinds of dependents:

Qualifying Child

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster chld, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.
7. The child must be younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) unless disabled.

Qualifying Relative

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.
2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household.
3. The person's gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4,200 in 2019.
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.
5. The person must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.

hi808taxes · ‎July 11, 2020

I guess I need to check 'someone can claim him' because I can, even though I wasn't planning to. but now I may just claim him as a dependent.

I asked this question because I heard from an accounting friend that having my son file his own taxes for 2019 and no one is claiming him as a dependent will yield a stimulus check; but answering this question that 'someone can claim him' will not enable him to get a stimulus check. I searched around last night and found 2 articles that says this, so 'someone can claim' him makes a big implication:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/markkantrowitz/2020/04/21/most-college-students-will-not-receive-stimul...

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/30/many-college-students-are-ineligible-for-a-stimulus-relief-check.htm...

thanks for your reply!