Non relative dependent health coverage

[PKPTexas]

A young man who's parents are both deceased (prior to 2016) lives with us and goes to college.  Since he is not related he can't be on my employer's health plan. He did not buy health insurance in 2016 and could not afford it. Is there any way for me to claim him as a dependent and not have to pay the no insurance penalty?

[ChristinaS · Accepted solution]

Claiming him as a dependent would shift the penalty to your tax return. If he's on your return, then your income will make the determination as to whether you receive a penalty for having an uninsured dependent.

If there is a penalty on his return, that means his income isn't that low. In order to claim an unrelated person as a dependent, that person must have less than $4,050 in income. This is assuming he is not your foster child.(?) Though unrelated, a foster child counts as a qualifying child and therefore the income test doesn't apply. He must not, however, provide more than half of his own support.

See- Qualifying Child  vs Qualifying Relative

If he doesn't qualify as your dependent, did you look into the penalty exceptions for his return? One of them is unaffordable coverage.