In order to claim someone as a dependent, the following criteria must be met.
To claim someone as a qualifying child:
- Your child (including adopted and foster children), your sibling, or a descendent of any of them.
- Age 18 or younger at the end of the tax year OR under 24 (and younger than you and your spouse) if they are a full-time student
- Lived with you for more than 6 months during the tax year
- They did not provide more than half of their own support
- They did not file a joint return, unless it was to claim a refund
A qualifying Child may allow you to claim Child Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax
To claim someone as a Qualifying Relative, they must be:
- Your child ( including step children, adoptive children and foster children) or a descendent of them
- Your sibling (including half siblings) or a child of your sibling or a sibling-in-law
- Your parent or grandparents, including step parents and in laws
- Any other person that lived with you for the entire tax year
- Not a qualifying child of another taxpayer
- Someone that you provided over half of their support for during the tax year
- Has less than $4,700 in income (not counting social security)
Claiming someone as a qualifying relative allows you to claim the $500 Non-Refundable Other Dependent Credit
If your daughters aunt worked all year, she likely made more than $4,700. This means you would not be able to claim her as a dependent.
Depending on where your daughter lived, her age and who supported her, you may or may not be able to claim her either.
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