My son turned 19 on March 18th. He has lived with me all year, but filed his own tax return. I pay for almost all of his expenses. Can I still claim him?

[VolvoGirl]

Did he turn 19 on March 18 in 2022 or 2021?  
If he was still 18 on December 31, 2021 you can claim him on your 2021 return.

If he was 19-23 you can claim him if he was a full time student.  

If he made less than 4,300you can claim him no matter how old he is.

If you can claim him he has to check the box on his return that he can be claimed on someone else's return.   If he didn't then he will have to amend his return and you will have to mail your return this year.

Who can I claim as a dependent?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/credits-and-deductions/help/who-can-i-claim-as-my-dependent/00/267...

Who you can claim article

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/rules-for-claiming-a-dependent-on-your-tax-return/L8LODb...

[DoninGA]

If was under the age of 19 for tax year 2021 then he can be claimed as a dependent under the Qualifying Child rules.  If he did not provide over one-half of his own support and lived in your home for over 6 months of the year, among the other rules, then you can claim him as your dependent.

To be a Qualifying Child -

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.
7. The child must be younger than you unless disabled.

If he meets the requirements to be claimed as a dependent Child, then he will have to amend his 2021 tax return to change his dependency status, assuming he filed as Not a dependent.

If his tax return has been accepted by the IRS then you can only print and mail your 2021 tax return since the IRS has already received a tax return with his Social Security number and not a dependent.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for amending a 2021 tax return for a return originally completed and filed using TurboTax - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/amend-2021-return/L1gEU4G3X_U...

See this TurboTax support FAQ for how to print and mail a tax return using the online editions -  https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/printers-printing/print-mail-return-turb...

[RJB44]

You most certainly can.  As long as you paid for the majority of his expenses after him living away for 2 1/2 months, he is an eligible dependent.  However, if he is planning on going to college, you may want to consider how claiming him may affect college aid or other aid he may receive.

  R. Brennan

  CPA, Ky

[NCperson]

@mikestamate82 - the issue is really about a) was he a fulltime student and b) how much did he earn.  I will assume child did NOT pay 50% of his financial support since you state you paid for everything. 

1) if he was a full time student, then yes, you can claim him

2) if he was NOT a full time student AND earned less than $4300, you can claim him

3) otherwise, you cannot claim him.

@RJB44 - how do you come to that conclusion as there is no reference to earnings or school status?  Let's say he is not in school, and earned $5000.  How can parent claim him??????? why does living away for 2.5 months come into play? 

[Hal_Al]

Q. My son  filed his own tax return. Can I still claim him?

A.  Yes, if he qualifies as your dependent, under either the qualifying child or qualifying relative rules, as described in the other replies.

There is a rule that says IF somebody (you, in this case)  CAN claim him as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim himself, if he files a tax return.  If he has sufficient income (usually more than $12,550), he can & should still file taxes. In TurboTax, he indicates that somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information section.  TT will check that box on form 1040.

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.

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 not 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.