I claimed son b/c he lived with us for more than half the year. He moved in Aug. Now he tells me he got a W2 for $6,000. Do I need to amend? Should he also file?

[Rachel_W]

How old was your son? Was he a full-time student?

[Cassie34]

He turned 19 in August and went into the Air Force.

[re2boys]

When did he graduate high school?

[Cassie34]

May of 2018 but lived with us until the end of August, almost September.  We paid all his expenses.  he did not start getting paid until September.

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

A person always reports income earned from working on a tax return in their own name.  This does not necessarily mean they are not a dependent.

For you, you can claim your child as a "qualifying child" dependent if he lived with you more than half the year, AND was either, 

•age 19 or less, or

•age 23 or less and a full time student for at least part of 5 months (such as the spring semester).

His income does not disqualify him under the qualifying child rule.

If your son does not qualify as a qualifying child dependent due to their age and school status, then his income does disqualify him from being a "qualifying relative" dependent under an alternate set of rules.

If you already claimed your child and now find out you can't, you will need to file an amended return once your first refund is paid.

For your son, if his taxable income is less than $12,000, he does not need to file unless he wants a refund of any withholding.  He is unlikely to get free money (more than his withholding) just for filing.  If he can be claimed as your dependent, he must check the box on his return that says "I can be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer."

[Cassie34]

Thank you.  He still qualifies as a dependent for me.  However, I did not realize he earned as much as he did so when I reported it, I said no.  However, he has since got a W2 but it's still less than $10,000.   He was worried that he absolutely had to file regardless because he had a military W2.  I was worried about him filing because I already claimed him and reported his income incorrectly, even though it's less than $10,000.  I guess my concern is should I amend my return to include his actual income?  And if he files with his income will it mess mine up?

[re2boys]

He qualifies as your dependent as long as he did not provide more than half his own support.  
His income that you told the program he made is not critical, the program just needed to know if his income was less than or greater than $4150.  If your son had any federal taxes withheld, he should prepare a federal tax return being careful to note that someone else claimed him to see if he is eligible for a refund.

[Opus 17]

If he lived with you more than half the year and meets the age test, there is no hard dollar limit on his earnings that would disqualify him from being a dependent.  The hard limit ($4150) only applies for a dependent who is not your child, or who is your child but is over age, or did not live in your home.