Trying to understand dependent laws

[Anonymous3678]

So basically I filled my 2020 taxes and didn’t check to allow someone to claim me as a dependent. My mother had insurance on me all year last year, but I didn’t live with her after Jan 15-25 roughly. I was 17 until November 22, but worked a full time job made over 9k living in a different state. She is afraid that she will get in trouble since I did this because she can’t claim me as a dependent due to me saying nobody can. What should we do? Can she get in trouble? Can I? 

[ErnieS0]

No. Neither you or your mother will get into trouble as long as she does not claim you as a dependent. If you made more than $9k and lived in another state, then she probably should not claim you because you probably provided more than half your support. Also you did not live with her for more than half the year.

The IRS has an app to help figure out who should be claimed as a dependent.

Health insurance would only matter is your mother had a marketplace plan and received a Form 1095-A with an advanced premium tax credit. In that case, she would have to split the cost between you and her. She does not have to assign any of the cost to you.

[Hal_Al]

It's not clear: did your mother claim your or not?

If she did claim you, yes she will get a notice from the IRS saying her return is erroneous and she will have to file an amended return and probably pay back some money.

Since you did not live with her and made more than $4300, SHE cannot claim you.

But maybe somebody else can. Who did you live with, in the other state.  If it was a close relative, they, most likely, were able to claim you, since you are under 19.  So your return, stating that you cannot be claimed may also be wrong.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

.A child closely related to a taxpayer can be a “Qualifying Child (QC)” dependent, regardless of the child's income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or  is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support
3. He lived with the relative (including temporary absences) for more than half the year
4. He is younger than the relative (not applicable for a disabled child)
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child (this essentially means that you have the parent’s permission to claim the child, if the child also lived with the parent more than half the year)
6. If the parents of a child can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent so claims the child, no one else can claim the child as a qualifying child unless that person's adjusted gross income (AGI) is higher than the highest AGI of any of the child's parents who can claim the child.

See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Ret...