The IRS will not allow a dependent to claim a dependent and there can only be one head of household per address. The person who provided more than half of the household expenses for the child and grandchild, during the year, is the one who should claim it. Whether or not you should claim your child and grand child, depends on the following factors.
Was the child a age 19 on December 31, 2016 or under 24 on this date and a full time student?
answer no: You must qualify to claim your child under the IRS rules for a qualifying child.
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Relationship: Must be your child, adopted child, foster-child, brother or sister, or a descendant of one of these (grandchild or nephew).
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Residence: Must have the same residence for more than half the year.
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Age: Must be under age 19 or under 24 and a full-time student for at least 5 months. They can be any age if they are totally and permanently disabled.
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Support: Must not have provided more than half of their own support during the year.
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Joint Support: The child cannot file a joint return for the year.
answer yes: You must qualify to claim the child under the IRS rules for a qualifying relative.
- They are not the “qualifying child” of another taxpayer or your “qualifying child”.
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Gross Income: Dependent earns less than $4,050 in 2016.
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Total Support: You provide more than half of the total support for the year.
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Member of Household or Relationship: The person (a friend, girlfriend, non blood relative) must live with you all year as a member of your household or be one of the relatives that doesn’t have to live with you.
As long as your child qualifies under one of the sets of rules, then you can claim him.
The grand child will need to qualify under the first set of rules. Also, be aware of the IRS tiebreaker rules. These rules apply when more than one person can claim a child.
Tie-Breaker Rules
- The parents if they file a joint return;
- The parent, if only one of the persons is the child's parent;
- The parent with whom the child lived the longest during the tax year, if two of the persons are the child's parent and they do not file a joint return together.
- The parent with the highest AGI if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the tax year, and they do not file a joint return together;
- The person with the highest AGI if no parent can claim the child as a qualifying child; or
- A person with the higher AGI than any parent who can also claim the child as a qualifying child but does not.
