I am an 18 year old student that lives with my mom.. I earned 21,000. can my mom take me as her dependent

[MinhT1]

Yes, if you did not provide more than 50% of your own support in 2025.

Please read this TurboTax article on Who Can I Claim as a Tax dependent?

[xmasbaby0]

Yes she can claim you as a dependent.   You can still file your own tax return to seek a refund of amounts withheld from your paychecks as shown in boxes 2 and 17 of your W-2's but in MY INFO you MUST say that you can be claimed as someone else's dependent.  This will not affect the amount of your refund.   And...if you become a college student you can be claimed as a dependent until the year you turn 24.

[DoninGA]

Maybe.  Do you provide over one-half the cost of your own support?  If not, she may be able to claim you as a dependent under the Qualifying Child rules.

To be a Qualifying Child -

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, 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 unless disabled.