dependant did not live with me

[jfgezik]

When turbo tax ask how many months my 22 year old daughter lives with me I put 0 months but the program keeps defaulting to 6 months.  Does anyone know why.  I assume I cannot claim her because did not live with me.  Why is program doing that?

[xmasbaby0]

Is your 22 year old daughter a full-time student who lived away at school?  If so, living away at school is a "temporary absence" and you can say she lived with you all year.     Or---if she is not a student, did she have less than $5050 of income in 2024?    If she was not a student and had at least $5050 of income, you cannot claim her as a dependent.

[DoninGA]

Are they a full time student?  If so, then enter that they lived with you for the Whole year since they were away from the home for education.

[Opus 17]

I'm not clear on why the program would change your answer.  But in the past, "6 months" does not qualify them to be a dependent under the "qualifying child" rules because the program takes "6 months" to be exactly half the year, and to be a qualifying child it has to be more than half (7 months or more).  So there is likely no real difference between 6 and 0, they are both not more than half.

In any case, as mentioned by the others, if she is a full time student, indicate she lived with you all year.  If she is not a full time student, she can only be your dependent if (a) her income is less than $5050 and (b) you provided more than half her support.  And for that particular type of dependent, she is not required to live with you at all, so the number of months is irrelevant.