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I supported my daughter (age 35) for the past year, she didn't live with me and had no income for the year other than my support. Turbotax won't let me claim her Why?

What works for you to get her as your dependent is fine.  That type of information is not sent to the IRS.

Kim682
Returning Member

I supported my daughter (age 35) for the past year, she didn't live with me and had no income for the year other than my support. Turbotax won't let me claim her Why?

THERE IS A BUG IN TT.

 

The $5050 gross income is only for relatives, not children, yet TT is using that as an exclusion.  It's not consistent however.  I have 2 kids and I picked the EXACT same options and one was qualified and one was not. I had to say "no" to the $5050 question for one of them to get TT to treat them as a dependent as they are per IRS code!

I supported my daughter (age 35) for the past year, she didn't live with me and had no income for the year other than my support. Turbotax won't let me claim her Why?

@Kim682 If your child is under the age of 19 then they are a dependent under the Qualifying Child rules where their income is not a factor, only if they provided over one-half of their own support would be a factor in denying them as a dependent.  If they are a full time student under the age of 24 they would also be eligible under the Qualifying Child rules.

 

If the child is age 19 or older and not a full time student then they are eligible to be a dependent under the Qualifying Relative rules.  Under these rules to be claimed as a dependent their gross income for the year must be less than $5,050.

 

When entering a child as a dependent you must be carful on what you select on the various TurboTax screens asking for information concerning the dependent so that you do not inadvertently choose something that would change their dependency.

 

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.

 

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 $5,050 (social security does not count) in 2024
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 with the following exception -
You can claim a person as a dependent who files a joint return if that person and that person’s spouse file the joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid.

Kim682
Returning Member

I supported my daughter (age 35) for the past year, she didn't live with me and had no income for the year other than my support. Turbotax won't let me claim her Why?

Per IRS law the $5050 only applies to dependent relative, not child.   How can the IRS say that a full time student that makes $6k a year is not a dependent?  They can't.  TT has a bug.  both of my kids are under 23 and with the exact same options one was qualified and one was not.  That is an error on the TT side.

I supported my daughter (age 35) for the past year, she didn't live with me and had no income for the year other than my support. Turbotax won't let me claim her Why?


@Kim682 wrote:

Per IRS law the $5050 only applies to dependent relative, not child.   How can the IRS say that a full time student that makes $6k a year is not a dependent?  They can't.  TT has a bug.  both of my kids are under 23 and with the exact same options one was qualified and one was not.  That is an error on the TT side.


Go back and review your answers for the dependent child.

Did you select that they were your child, did you enter the date of birth correctly in the MM/DD/YYYY format, did you indicate that they were a full time student, did you indicate that they lived in your home for the Whole year, did you indicate that they did NOT proved over one-half of their own support OR did you indicate that you provided over one-half of their support, did you NOT check box labeled "not valid for employment" when entering their Social Security number.

 

If all of your answers are correct then delete them as a dependent and re-enter.

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