My son is 17, full time student and works

[Simcar02]

I chose the wrong answer for my child when making him my dependent and it wont allow for me to go back and change it. how can i fix this so then i am able to claim him.

[xmasbaby0]

You probably answered something incorrectly in MY INFO.   Go back to MY INFO, click the child’s name  and go through all of the interview questions carefully and slowly.  Read every screen top to bottom.

Make sure you have entered your child as a dependent in My Info, and that you have entered the child's Social Security number.    Careful— do not say that your child’s SSN is not valid for employment.  If your child was born in 2025 make sure you said he lived with you the whole year.  There is an oddly worded question that asks if the child paid over half their own support.  Say NO to that question.

If your dependent was a full-time college student, make sure you were careful on the MY INFO screen for “Uncommon situations” and that you indicated there that they were a student.   "Full-time student" is relevant if he is a college student.   If he is in high school you do not have to say he is a student.

[xmasbaby0]

MY DEPENDENT HAD A JOB

If your dependent has a W-2 for his after-school job, summer job, etc. you do not include the information on your own return. You can still claim your child as a dependent on your own return.  He/she can file his own return for a refund of some of his withheld wages from boxes 2 or 17 (he won’t get back anything for Social Security or Medicare), but MUST indicate on it that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.  (Supervise this closely or prepare it for him!)

If your dependent’s earnings were over $400 and were reported on a 1099Misc or 1099NEC then he must file a return and pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.

You might also want to use free software from the IRS Free File versions:

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/