You MAY qualify. You are usually not allowed to do what you did; claim a child for EIC, who is not your dependent. But, there are two exceptions (see below)*.
You probably have a bigger issue on the table: a 22 year old, fulltime student that lives at home is usually still the parent's dependent. 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
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 himself. Scholarships are considered third party support, not support provided by the student. 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 $4000 exemption (deduction). In TurboTax, he indicates that
somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information
section. If he has filed a return, claiming himself, he
will need to file an amended return, unclaiming himself, so that you can claim
him. You do no need to wait until his amended return is fully processed, to
claim him on your return. But, you cannot e-file. You will have to mail in a
paper return.
Furthermore, there's a new urban myth among college
students that says they can get a $1000 from the government just for filing a
tax form. For most of them, they simply aren't eligible. A student, under age
24, is only eligible for the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Credit if he supports himself by working .
You cannot be supporting yourself on parental support, 529 plans or student
loans & grants. You must have actually paid tuition, not had it paid by scholarships
& grants. It is usually best if the
parent claims that credit.
* Exceptions: 1. There is a special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including
never married) parents. When the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as
a dependent, the custodial parent is still allowed
to claim the same child for Earned Income Credit. But that rule is not applicable when the child claims his own exemption or any other situation. It's only for separated parents. 2. If the child is not a dependent only because of the support test, he still qualifies the parent for EIC. The taxpayer (TP) goes thru the dependent interview and indicates that the child provided more than half his own support. TT will say he's not a dependent-Use for EIC & Dependent care only. TP must then activate the EIC interview at Deductions & Credits / You and your family / Earned Income Credit. TT will prepare Schedule EIC, using that child
