Being away for school is considered a temporary absence and you count the time as living with you; but based on the details you provided though, no, you cannot claim your son as a dependent for 2025.
The IRS has two distinct categories for dependents: a "Qualifying Child" and a "Qualifying Relative." Your son unfortunately misses the requirements for both.
To be claimed as a qualifying child:
- He must be under age 24 at the end of the tax year. Since he is already 24, he misses this.
- Even if he were 23, the IRS requires a student to be enrolled full-time for at least 5 months out of the year. Because he started in September, he was only a student for 4 months (September, October, November, December) in 2025.
Because he aged out of the "Child" category, the IRS looks to see if he can be claimed as a "Relative."
To be claimed as a qualifying relative:
- In 2025, that person’s gross income for the entire year cannot exceed $5,200.
- Because your son earned $14,000, he is completely disqualified from being your dependent, regardless of the fact that you paid his bills and supported him.
Because he is legally disqualified from being claimed, you should not add him to your tax return at all.
Because he cannot be claimed as a dependent, he will file his own 2025 tax return as an independent single filer. Since his income is only $14,000, his standard deduction ($15,000 for single filers in 2025) will wipe out his federal income tax liability, meaning he should get back all the federal income taxes his employer withheld.
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