Why don't they live with you? Who do they live with? Is someone else claiming them?
If they are not living with you due to being away at college, then yes, you could possibly claim them as a dependent if they meet the rest of the criteria. Being away for college counts as a temporary absence so you would actually say they live with your during the time they are away at college, if your home is their primary home when not at college.
If they live with their other parent, then the other parent would have to agree to allow you to claim them. The only credit you can claim as the noncustodial parent is the Child Tax Credit
Tax Info for NonCustodial Parent
Are they your adult child or parent that you provide over half of their support and their income is less than $4,700? Then you may be able to claim them for the $500 Non-Refundable Other Dependent Credit.
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 $4,700 in income (not counting social security)
The following criteria must be met to claim someone as a qualifying child:
- Your child (including adopted and foster children), your sibling, or a descendent of any of them.
- Age 18 or younger at the end of the tax year OR under 24 (and younger than you and your spouse) if they are a full-time student
- Lived with you for more than 6 months during the tax year (unless away as a temporary absence such as college.)
- They did not provide more than half of their own support
- They did not file a joint return, unless it was to claim a refund
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