My Son took off 5 months (Jan- May) of school and joined the National Guard, He went back to school in Sept-Dec (4 Months). Can I still claim him as a dependent?

[dale_wippler]

He is 21 years old.

[Phillip1 · Accepted solution]

You might not be able to claim him for this year.

To be qualify as your dependent, the following must apply:

• He is between the ages of 19 and 24,

• He was a full time student for 2016

• To be a student, they must be, during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year:

1. A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body at the school, or

2. A student taking a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school described in (1), or by a state, county, or local government agency.

The 5 calendar months don't have to be consecutive.

He did not provide more than half of his own support.

• This test is different from the support test to be a qualifying relative, which is described later. However, to see what is or isn't support, see Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Relative) , later. If you aren't sure whether a child provided more than half of his or her own support, you may find Worksheet 2 helpful.

He did not file a joint tax return.

• An exception to the joint return test applies if your child and his or her spouse file a joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid.

Since he was a full time student for less than the 5 months required, he would need to qualify as your dependent under the qualifying relative set of rules. Those are as follows:

1. He made less than 4,050 dollars for the year

2. You provided more than half of his support.

Given this is his first year in the military, it seems likely that his exceeds the 4,050 income limit or that you may not have been able to provide more than half of his support. If he paid for more than half of his support (like food, shelter, transportation, medical and dental, clothing, and recreation) with the money he earned, you cannot claim him as your dependent. Use worksheet 2 from page 16 of this PDF verison of Publication 501.