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posted May 31, 2019 10:04:20 PM

My 19 year old made over 5,000 in income last year. Can I claim him as my dependent?

No other parent can claim him
He was a full time student from January - June
He lived with me all year
HOWEVER, he will have to file this year due to his income and will obviously want to count himself as a deduction. I don't know whether to claim him or not.

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1 Best answer
Level 15
May 31, 2019 10:04:22 PM

 Yes, you can and should claim him.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled

2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are considered third party support and not as support provided by the student.

3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

 

So, it doesn't matter how much he earned. What matters is how much he spent on support. Money he put into savings does not count as support he spent on him self.

The support value of the home you provided is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

Furthermore, there is a rule that says IF somebody else CAN claim him as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim his own exemption. If he has sufficient income (usually more than $6300), he can & should still file taxes; he just doesn’t get his own $4050 exemption (deduction). In TurboTax, he indicates that somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information section.  With only $5000 of wage income, he gets no tax benefit from  counting himself as a deduction.

Even if he had less, he is allowed to file if he needs to get back income tax withholding. He cannot get back social security or Medicare tax withholding.

1 Replies
Level 15
May 31, 2019 10:04:22 PM

 Yes, you can and should claim him.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled

2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are considered third party support and not as support provided by the student.

3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

 

So, it doesn't matter how much he earned. What matters is how much he spent on support. Money he put into savings does not count as support he spent on him self.

The support value of the home you provided is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

Furthermore, there is a rule that says IF somebody else CAN claim him as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim his own exemption. If he has sufficient income (usually more than $6300), he can & should still file taxes; he just doesn’t get his own $4050 exemption (deduction). In TurboTax, he indicates that somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information section.  With only $5000 of wage income, he gets no tax benefit from  counting himself as a deduction.

Even if he had less, he is allowed to file if he needs to get back income tax withholding. He cannot get back social security or Medicare tax withholding.