I am 39 and live with my dad. He wants to claim me, but I want to file my own taxes as well. Can this be done without a penalty?

[Vanessa A]

It depends.  If you earn more than $5,200, then NO, he cannot claim you.  If you earn less than that, then you may possibly be able to be claimed as a qualifying relative if you meet the rest of the criteria below. 

Whether he can or cannot claim you, you can still file your own return, you just need to check the box that says someone else can claim you as a dependent on their return. 

To claim someone as a Qualifying Relative, they must be:

• Your child ( including step children, adoptive children and foster children) or a descendent of them
• Your sibling (including half siblings) or a child of your sibling or a sibling-in-law
• Your parent or grandparents, including step parents and in laws
• Any other person that lived with you for the entire tax year
• Not a qualifying child of another taxpayer
• Someone that you provided over half of their support for during the tax year
• Has less than $5,200 in income (not counting social security)

[DoninGA]

If your total income in 2025 is $5,200 or more, no one can claim you as a dependent.

[xmasbaby0]

If you had more than $5200 of income not counting any Social Security, you cannot be claimed as anyone else's dependent.    If you had less than $5200, he could claim you as a qualified relative and get a non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents, and on your own tax return you would have to indicate that someone can claim you.

Qualifying relative

• They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They lived with you the entire year (exceptions apply).
• They made less than $5200 in 2025 (not counting Social Security)
• You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a dependent.

Related Information:

• What does "financially support another person" mean?
• What is a "qualifying person" for Head of Household?

[michellgray]

Thank you! Does this criteria apply to him claiming head of household too

[DoninGA]

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@michellgray wrote:

Thank you! Does this criteria apply to him claiming head of household too

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Yes.

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

Q. He wants to claim me, but I want to file my own taxes as well. Can this be done without a penalty?

A.  Probably.  With the 2018 tax law change, most dependents will get the same refund whether they claim themselves or not. The personal exemption has been eliminated and the standard deduction increased. But, it depends on the source of your income.  A dependent gets a standard deduction of the greater of $1350 or his earned income + $450, up to  $15,750.  

Q. Does this criteria apply to him claiming head of household (HoH) too?

A, Yes, essentially.  To be HoH, the taxpayer must be claiming a related dependent, who lived with him for more than half the year. 

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.

You are too old to be a QC (over 23), so we look to the Qualifying Relative rules if you can be an Other dependent. The critical rule is: you must have less than $5200 of income.  Nontaxable Social security doesn't count as income, for the income test, but social security money you spend on yourself does count as support not provided by him, for the support test. 

The support value of the home, provided by the parent, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf