My son is Autistic. When asked is he disabled in my tax return do i click yes or no?

[AnnaB · Accepted solution]

Whether or not your autistic dependent, spouse or yourself, is considered disabled depends on their level of functioning.

The IRS defines disability as permanently and totally disabled.  The person in question must meet the following two requirements to meet this definition:

1. He or she cannot engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition and
2. A doctor determines the condition has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year or can lead to death.

The good news, for a child dependent, it likely doesn't impact your tax situation depending on the age of your child.  You can continue to claim your child or other eligible dependent as a qualifying child dependent until age 18, or age 23 if a full-time student.

The disability qualification takes away the age limitation for the qualifying child dependent test.

[Poincare]

Neither of these replies answer the question.  I am in the same boat: my son is 2.5 years old and was diagnosed with autism at 1 year old.  These replies are useless because they do not help Turbotax users faced with this question to answer either yes or no.  

[DoninGA]

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@Poincare wrote:

Neither of these replies answer the question.  I am in the same boat: my son is 2.5 years old and was diagnosed with autism at 1 year old.  These replies are useless because they do not help Turbotax users faced with this question to answer either yes or no.  

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Click on Yes.  However, being disabled and under the age of 19 does not have any effect on your tax return.

[xmasbaby0]

@Poincare There are no special credits or deductions to be had by saying your child is disabled unless the child is over 12 and you need to use the childcare credit beyond the age that the credit is normally allowed for parent who must pay for childcare so they can work.    If you have had any medical expenses or testing expenses, etc. enter those as medical expenses.

[Henry63]

Our son has been diagnosed with a mental illness by doctors and psychologists for the past four years. We applied for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for him last year, and it is currently pending. He is unable to work or complete his education. Given these circumstances, we would like to know if we can claim him as a dependent on our tax return. We have been covering all of his expenses, including health insurance, housing, and food, since he became an adult. If we claim him as a dependent, will it negatively impact his SSI application? He filed his own tax returns independently until 2022, when he had earned income. Since 2023, he has been unable to work at all. Please advise

[DoninGA]

@Henry63 You should be able to claim him as a dependent under the Qualifying Relative rules.

To be a Qualifying Relative -

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.
2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household.
3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $5,050 (social security does not count) in 2024
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.
5. The person must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S., Canada, or Mexico resident for some part of the year.
6. The person must not file a joint return with their spouse with the following exception -
You can claim a person as a dependent who files a joint return if that person and that person’s spouse file the joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid.