Dependents

[cymorris]

Can I claim my 19 year old child who is not a student and does not have a job? He is not disabled.

[DoninGA]

If he is age 19 or older, is not a full time student and his gross income in 2023 was less than $4,700 then you should be able to claim him as a dependent under the Qualifying Relative rules.

To be a 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 income for the year must be less than $4,700 (social security does not count) in 2023
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 or a U.S., Canada, or Mexico resident for some part of the year.
6. The person must not file a joint return with their spouse.

[Hal_Al]

Q.  Can I claim my 19 year old child who is not a student and does not have a job? He is not disabled.

A.  Yes. Since he "des not have a job", he probably meets the income (#3) and support tests (#4) for being a dependent. 

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("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, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit  and the Child Tax Credit (for children under 17). They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent.