Need to changes my son's dependent status

[CRS1985]

my son is 25 and lives with me while attending college full time. I am supporting him, I was advised to claim him as a dependent even though he worked a summer job. I efiled my return and it was accepted. He efiled his return and it was rejected because I claimed him as a dependent. How do I fix his return? Please and thank you in advance. 

[xmasbaby0]

If your son was 25 at the end of 2025 and had more than $5200 of income of his own, he cannot be claimed as your dependent.  He is too old to be a qualifying child and if he earned over $5200, had too much income to be a qualifying relative.

If he earned less than $5200, you can still claim him as a qualifying relative for the non-refundable $500 credit for other dependents.    In that situation he will have to change his own answer in MY INFO when it asks if someone else can claim him.

[CRS1985]

Good evening. 

My son turned 25 in August 2025. He made close to $4,700 during the summer.  

The issue is that we need to change his answer because he said no one could claim him.  How do we do that? I do not get that question when I attempt to edit his form.

Thank you for your help.

[xmasbaby0]

He earned less than $5200 so he can be claimed......the question you need does appear in MY INFO.   Go to MY INFO, click his name and go slowly and carefully through the screens to the one that asks him if he can be claimed.

[CRS1985]

I am using turbotax deluxe. Does that matter?

when I open his return I see the following tabs: Personal info, federal taxes, state taxes, review and file. I do not see "my info".  I also do not see any questions about if someone can claim him. 

I am trying to relax and I really appreciate your help. 

[CRS1985]

I don't disagree with you. I just cannot find it in the windows version of turbo tax. 

[MonikaK1]

In the Desktop version of TurboTax, the information about you and your dependents is in the Personal Info tab. Go to that tab and click Continue, and you will see section for your dependent on their return to review the questions again and make any needed changes. Then, you can resubmit the return.

If you need extra time, filing an extension by April 15, 2026, moves your submission deadline to October 15. But remember any taxes owed are still due in full by the original April 15 date.

@CRS1985 

[CRS1985]

Thank you so much. I will try it first thing in the morning. I was so stressed about this that I had a migraine. I am just checking for a response. I appreciate your help and will respond with the outcome. 

[CRS1985]

Good morning.

Thank you for your response. I have a few follow up questions. Know that I need as many details as possible. LOL

What am I supposed to do?  Here is what I know:

•  My son is 25 and is in college full time. 
• He lives with me and I provide for him
• I claimed him on my taxes.
• He had a summer job and made about $4,900
• On my son's return I made the mistake of saying no one was claiming him but I did. 
• My tax return was submitted and accepted.
• IRS rejected his return because I said no one was claiming him. My oversight.
• My son does not owe taxes but is set to receive a refund. 

My questions are as follows:

You advised: the information about you and your dependents is in the Personal Info tab.

My question:  Is this correction made on MY return or my SON's return? 

You advised: Go to that tab and click Continue, and you will see section for your dependent on their return to review the questions again and make any needed changes.

My questions: 

• What exactly is the correction? On my return he is my dependent. On his return I said that no one claimed him. I do not see where I can change the statement on his return that no one is claiming him to someone else is claiming him.   
• What needs to be changed?
• How do I proceed?

I hope this is clarifies my confusion. I appreciate your help. I am anxious and want to get this resolved as soon as I can. 

thank you!

[DaveF1006]

You will need to amend your 2025 return and remove him from your return. Since you can efile your amendment, you can wait for its acceptance. Once accepted, have your son electronically file his return again.  Since your efile is accepted and a change has been recorded with the IRS, his return should be accepted by the IRS. Here are the steps on how to proceed with your amendment.

1. Start the Amendment

1. Open the exact same tax file you already filed. 
2. Go to the Federal Taxes tab (or Personal in some versions).
3. Select Other Tax Situations.
4. Scroll down to Other Tax Forms and select Amend a Return.

Follow the prompts. TurboTax will display your original return before letting you make changes. This is vital because the IRS needs to see the "Before" and "After" on Form 1040-X.

2. Remove the Dependent

1. Navigate to the Personal Info tab .You will see a list of your dependents.
2. Select Delete (the trash can icon) next to the name of the dependent you need to remove.

Confirm the deletion. TurboTax will automatically recalculate your return, which will likely result in you owing money back (since you are losing the dependent credit).

3. Review Form 1040-X

1. TurboTax will generate Form 1040-X.
2. In the Explanation of Changes section, clearly state why you are removing the dependent (e.g., "Removing dependent [Name] who is claiming themselves on their own return").

4. File the Amendment

E-filing: If you e-filed your original 2025 return, you can likely e-file the amendment. Follow the on-screen instructions to transmit it. Also, be sure your file has been accepted by the IRS before amending. Most likely it has, but I thought i would mention it anyway.

[CRS1985]

Thank you.  

Before I do this I have another question.

Can I change his return and say that he is a dependent of mine. although he is 25 he made less than the threshold amount of about $5000 at his summer job. 

thanks

[VolvoGirl]

Yes.   You shouldn't need to amend your return.   Your return is ok.  He made under $5,200 so you can still claim him.  On his rejected return just go to Personal Info and look for the question that he can be claimed on someone else's return.  

[MarilynG1]

Since you claimed him a Dependent, all he needs to do  is indicate on his rejected return that he's 'claimed on someone else's return' in the Personal Info section and re-file.  Since you're claiming him, you can also claim his Education Expenses (if you didn't already and he had out-of-pocket expenses). 

Here's more info on Claiming a Dependent.

@CRS1985 

[CRS1985]

Hello 

I appreciate all this advice. I would rather change his status than mine.

However, I am back to my first questions about how to do this in the turbotax desktop software I use.

This is what I THINK I am supposed to do (a previous post from an TT expert told me to do this)

• Start the Amendment Open the exact same tax file you already filed. 
• Go to the Federal Taxes tab (or Personal in some versions).
• Select Other Tax Situations.
• Scroll down to Other Tax Forms and select Amend a Return.
• go to the section that says I need to change my return for a different reason
• select personal info and dependents
• I get the personal info summary
• I see his name and demographic information section. This can be edited. 
• I the section on dependent. I can edit this section. However, it only asks if he has children or financially supports another person. It does not ask if someone can claim him.  I do not see where I can make that change to say that I am claiming him. 

This is my problem. I do not see where I can make that change using the TurboTax software. 

I hope y'all can help me. This has worried me to a point of a migraine.

[DianeW777]

The link below will provide the steps to find the question on your son's return so you can select he has been claimed as a dependent on another tax return.

• How do I indicate I can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return?

@CRS1985