On Desktop, no matter what I answer, it will not allow me to claim my wife's son on our joint return. If I change both of us to be his parents, it works. Is it a bug?

[lyon261]

I am using Desktop Deluxe and it appears there's a bug in the issue as it pertains to children of only one of the 2 parents on a joint return.  It no longer allows me to claim my 17 year old even though he is living with us full-time and her ex is not claiming him.

[Opus 17]

If you are married to the other parent, you are the child's step-parent.  A step-parent has the same legal status as a biological parent as it comes to dependents.  In Turbotax, if you are preparing a joint return and it asks for the child's relationship, choose either "child" or "step child", don't choose "someone else."

Separately, when a child turns 17, they no longer qualify for the $2000 child tax credit, only the $500 "other dependent" credit.  This is part of the 2018 tax reform law, although it has older roots as well. 

[lyon261]

To clarify, it is giving me no credit not even the $500.

My guess is that it's a bug that resulted from Turbotax having to implement the Stimulus bills.  It looks like they also added a 3rd choice for whether or not the other parent is claiming Luke (my stepson)...the options being "have a divorce decree", "have the waiver stating the other parent isn't claiming", and "no agreement".  If I leave everything the same but change Luke's parent from Jennifer (my wife) to Jennifer and Chris (me) it works fine but if I say that Jennifer is the parent, no matter which of the 3 I pick, Turbotax kicks out that he does not qualify as a dependent. 

[NCperson]

just to test it, suggest using the IRS tool to confirm the child is a dependent.  If the IRS says he is a dependent, then either TT has a problem or there is something about how you are entering things that is amiss, but at least this will narrow it down.

it'll take under 5 minutes to complete 

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent

thanks.....

[NCperson]

ps... the definition of a qualified child for the up to $2000 tax credit and to get the stimulus are EXACTLY the same.....unlikely to be related to stimulus. 

[Opus 17]

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@lyon261 wrote:

To clarify, it is giving me no credit not even the $500.

My guess is that it's a bug that resulted from Turbotax having to implement the Stimulus bills.  It looks like they also added a 3rd choice for whether or not the other parent is claiming Luke (my stepson)...the options being "have a divorce decree", "have the waiver stating the other parent isn't claiming", and "no agreement".  If I leave everything the same but change Luke's parent from Jennifer (my wife) to Jennifer and Chris (me) it works fine but if I say that Jennifer is the parent, no matter which of the 3 I pick, Turbotax kicks out that he does not qualify as a dependent. 

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What are you indicating for how long the child lived in your home?  If the child lived with you less than half the year, you can't claim them as a dependent unless the other parent signs a release form.  If the child lived with you more than half the year, you should not even see that question.  Did you select "6 months"?  The program interprets that as exactly half a year and no one gets to claim the child.  If it was even 6 months plus 1 day, select "7 months."

[lyon261]

"Entire Year".  I've played with it all.  If I put the exact same choices into TurboTax 2019 except that I make his birthdate 1 year earlier (ie, so he would be the exact same age in 2019's turbo tax as 2020's), it correctly states he's a dependent but those same responses in 2020 yields "not a dependent".

This is why I believe it's a bug.  Basically, I'm sure it's (the tax law's) going to be an issue for parent's who claimed a child as a dependent in 2019 and so they got the stimulus checks but then in 2020, the other parent is claiming the child and which in turn means they are entitled to the stimulus payments since they're based on 2020 taxes...thus potentially double dipping the credit since it's been said all over the place that if you got too much (ie got it for your 2019 dependent who is not a 2020 dependent), you won't have to repay it.

Anyways, he most definitely should qualify as a dependent because he meets all 6 requirements:

1)  He's my wife's son and we file jointly.

2)  He lived with us the entire year.

3)  He's 17 and he's a full-time student

4)  He provides much less than half of his support.

5)  He's a US citizen.

6)  He's unmarried.

Turbotax just keeps saying he's not a dependent.  And all I have to change of the above is from being my wife's son to OUR son and it changes to him being a dependent. 

[macuser_22 · Accepted solution]

That part on the desktop has not been updated yet.     There is an update scheduled for 1/7 or 1/8 that hopefully will address that.  Online version works fine now.

[lyon261]

Thanks.  I had a feeling (although I guess I shouldn't have called it a bug...more of an in process thing).