Adult Working Child as a Dependent, that did not go to school

[RitaModicue76]

My 20 year old son still stays at home with me but he is working. This year working he made $22,000. He has already filed by himself, but I was trying to see can I still use him as a dependent?

[Vanessa A]

No.  If he was not a full time student, and made more than $5,050 he no longer qualifies as a dependent on your return. 

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 $5,050 in income (not counting social security)

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 (social security does not count)
• They did not file a joint return, unless it was to claim a refund

[Hal_Al]

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("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 and student status test, a relationship test and a residence test.

Since he was not a student, he can't be a QC.  So, there is a $5050 income limit for a Qualifying Relative, so he can't be a Qualifying Relative, either.