Jamarkus graduated in January of 2017 and has lived with me the entire time. Can I file him as a dependent?

[demarbiaz]

My son is only 19 and hasn't worked

[DanielV01 · Accepted solution]

Possibly, but not for the same benefits as in previous year.  Since your son is 19, he needed to be considered a student for you to claim him as a qualifying child.  To be considered a student, he needed to be in school at least 5 months in the year (high school or college).  Unless he continued into college, graduating in January means that you can only claim him as a Qualifying Relative.  Please click on the following link for additional information:  Qualifying Relative.

He will qualify as a qualifying relative if you provided at least half of his support and he earned less than $4050 of income.  However, benefits for claiming a qualifying relative are limited.  Most notably, a qualifying relative cannot be used to claim Earned Income Credit.  So, while you may be able to claim your son, you will probably see less refund on your tax return than in prior years.