Understanding Dependents for Tax Purposes

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Figuring out who counts as a dependent on your U.S. federal tax return is essential. It can affect your filing status, the tax credits you can claim, and ultimately, how much tax you owe or the refund you receive.

This guide will help you determine if you can claim someone as a dependent. We’ll explore the two main ways someone can qualify – as a “Qualifying Child” or a “Qualifying Relative” – and explain the specific tests the IRS uses for each category. We rely on official IRS guidance, primarily found in Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

Understanding Tax Dependents: The Basics

The Official Definition: More Than Just Your Child

For tax purposes, a dependent isn’t just anyone who relies on you financially, like a child you support. The IRS defines a dependent as a person, other than you or your spouse, who meets a specific set of tests. It’s crucial to understand that the everyday meaning of “dependent” might not perfectly match the strict, rule-based definition used in tax law.

The IRS provides two distinct pathways for someone to be considered your dependent: they must be either a Qualifying Child or a Qualifying Relative. You must follow the specific tests for one of these categories. The primary source for these rules is IRS Publication 501.

Two Paths: Qualifying Child vs. Qualifying Relative (Overview)

While both paths lead to claiming someone as a dependent, the tests are different.

Qualifying Child: These rules generally focus on individuals who have a specific family relationship to you (like a child, stepchild, sibling, or grandchild), meet certain age limits, live with you for a significant part of the year, and don’t provide most of their own financial support.

Qualifying Relative: This category is broader in some ways. It can include relatives who don’t live with you, or even non-relatives who live with you all year. However, it includes a strict limit on how much income the person can earn and requires that you provide the majority of their financial support.

This table offers a quick comparison:

Table 1: Qualifying Child vs. Qualifying Relative – Key Differences at a Glance

Rules That Apply to Everyone (The “Gatekeeper” Tests)

Before you even look at the specific tests for a Qualifying Child or Qualifying Relative, there are three fundamental rules that anyone claimed as a dependent must meet. Think of these as initial hurdles; failing any one means the person cannot be your dependent, regardless of other factors. These rules are detailed in Publication 501.

Dependent Taxpayer Test: If someone else can claim you as their dependent, you cannot claim anyone else as your dependent. This is true even if you have a child or relative who meets all the other tests.

• Exception: This rule doesn’t apply if the person who could claim you is filing a tax return only to get a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid, and they wouldn’t owe any tax otherwise.

Joint Return Test: Generally, you cannot claim a married person as a dependent if they file a joint tax return with their spouse.

• Crucial Exception: You can claim them if they file a joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid, and neither spouse would have any tax liability if they filed separate returns.

Citizen or Resident Test: The person must generally be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico for at least part of the year.

• Exception: Special rules exist for certain children adopted by U.S. citizens or nationals living abroad.

Passing these three tests is mandatory before proceeding to the specific Qualifying Child or Qualifying Relative tests. This logical structure prevents unnecessary effort if a basic requirement isn’t met.

Could This Person Be Your Qualifying Child? The 5 Tests

If the person you want to claim passes the three “gatekeeper” tests (Dependent Taxpayer, Joint Return, Citizen/Resident), the next step is to see if they meet the definition of a Qualifying Child. To be a Qualifying Child, they must meet all five of the following tests, as detailed in Publication 501.

Relationship Test

The child must have one of the following relationships to you:

• Your son, daughter, stepchild, or eligible foster child.
• Your brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, or stepsister.
• A descendant (like a grandchild, niece, or nephew) of any of the people listed above.
• Adopted Child: An adopted child is always treated as your own child. This includes a child lawfully placed with you for legal adoption, even if the adoption isn’t final yet.
• Eligible Foster Child: This is a child placed with you by an authorized placement agency (like a state agency) or by a court order.

Age Test

The child must meet one of these age requirements at the end of the tax year:

Under 19: The child was under age 19 at the end of the year AND is younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly).

Under 24 and Student: The child was under age 24 at the end of the year AND was a full-time student for at least part of 5 calendar months during the year AND is younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly).

Any Age if Disabled: The child was permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, regardless of their age.

It’s important to note the “younger than you” requirement for children who aren’t disabled. For example, if you are 18 and trying to claim your 17-year-old sibling who lives with you, they meet the “under 19” part, but if they are not younger than you, they fail this test.

Full-Time Student: A child is considered a full-time student if they are enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time. This must occur during some part of any 5 calendar months of the year (the months don’t need to be consecutive).

School Defined: A school includes elementary schools, junior and senior high schools, colleges, universities, and technical, trade, or mechanical schools. It does not include on-the-job training, correspondence schools, or schools offering courses only through the internet.

Permanently and Totally Disabled: A child is permanently and totally disabled if they can’t engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition, and a doctor determines the condition has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year or can lead to death.

Residency Test

The child must have lived with you for more than half of the tax year (more than 183 nights).

Temporary Absences: Time away from home for specific reasons generally counts as time living with you. These include absences for illness, education (like attending college), business, vacation, military service, or detention in a juvenile facility. For the absence to be considered temporary, you must keep up the home, and it must be reasonable to expect the child to return home after the absence. This “temporary absence” rule is particularly important for parents claiming college students who live away at school but maintain the parent’s home as their permanent residence and return on breaks.

Birth or Death: A child born or who died during the year is treated as having lived with you for the entire year if your home was the child’s home for more than half the time they were alive. A stillborn child cannot be claimed as a dependent.

Kidnapped Children: Special rules may allow a parent to continue meeting the residency test for a kidnapped child under certain conditions.

Divorced/Separated Parents: Generally, the child is the qualifying child of the custodial parent (the parent the child lived with for more nights during the year). Special rules, discussed later in the FAQ section, can sometimes allow the noncustodial parent to claim the child.

Support Test (for Qualifying Child)

This test focuses on the child’s contribution to their own support. The rule is: The child cannot have provided more than half of their own support for the year.

Difference from Qualifying Relative: This is distinct from the support test for a Qualifying Relative, which requires the taxpayer to provide more than half the support.

Calculating Support: “Support” includes costs for food, lodging (use fair rental value), clothing, education, medical and dental care, recreation, transportation, and similar necessities. Funds the child possesses (like savings or earnings) only count as support provided by the child if those funds are actually spent on their support items. Things like the child’s income taxes or life insurance premiums aren’t counted as support.

Scholarship Rule: This is a critical point for students: Scholarships received by a child who is a full-time student are generally not taken into account when determining if the child provided more than half of their own support. This exclusion often makes it possible for parents to claim college students who receive substantial financial aid, as the scholarship funds used for tuition, fees, etc., are not counted as the student supporting themselves. Without this rule, many students receiving scholarships might fail the support test for their parents.

Joint Return Test (for Qualifying Child)

This test is the same as the general “gatekeeper” test but applied specifically in the Qualifying Child context.

General Rule: The child cannot file a joint tax return with their spouse for the year.

Exception: They can file a joint return if it’s filed only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid, and neither the child nor their spouse would owe any tax if they filed separately. For example, if the child’s spouse had significant income requiring them to file jointly to claim credits beyond just a refund of withholding, the child would likely fail this test.

If the person meets all five of these tests (Relationship, Age, Residency, Support, Joint Return), plus the three initial gatekeeper tests, they are your Qualifying Child.

Could This Person Be Your Qualifying Relative? The 4 Tests

What if someone relies on you but doesn’t meet all five tests to be your Qualifying Child? They might still qualify as your dependent under the Qualifying Relative rules. This path requires meeting all four of the following tests, in addition to the three initial “gatekeeper” tests (Dependent Taxpayer, Joint Return, Citizen/Resident). Find the details in Publication 501.

Not a Qualifying Child Test

This is the crucial link between the two categories. The rule is: The person cannot be your Qualifying Child, nor can they be the Qualifying Child of any other taxpayer.

This means the Qualifying Child rules always take precedence. If someone meets the QC tests for you or anyone else, they cannot be a Qualifying Relative.

Example: Your 20-year-old child lives with you and is a full-time student. They meet all the tests to be your Qualifying Child. Therefore, they cannot be your Qualifying Relative, even if they also happen to meet the QR tests.

Example: Your 30-year-old child lives with you. They are too old to be your Qualifying Child (unless disabled). They might be your Qualifying Relative if they meet the other three QR tests (Member/Relationship, Gross Income, Support).

Important Exception: A child isn’t considered the Qualifying Child of another taxpayer (like their parent) if that other taxpayer isn’t required to file an income tax return and either doesn’t file, or files only to get a refund of withheld/estimated taxes. This exception is significant because it can allow someone else providing support (like a grandparent, or a boyfriend/girlfriend supporting their partner’s child) to potentially claim the child as a Qualifying Relative, provided the other QR tests are met.

Member of Household OR Relationship Test

The person must meet one of these two conditions:

1. Member of Household: The person lived with you all year as a member of your household.

• This allows non-relatives (like a friend, boyfriend, or girlfriend) to potentially qualify.
• Temporary absences (due to illness, education, business, vacation, military service) generally don’t disqualify them, provided it’s reasonable to assume they will return.
• The relationship cannot violate local law (e.g., living together while one person is married to someone else might be prohibited in some areas).
• If the person was your spouse at any time during the year, they cannot be your qualifying relative.

OR

2. Relationship: The person is related to you in one of the specific ways listed below. These relatives do not have to live with you:

• Your child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant (grandchild, etc.).
• Your brother, sister, half-sibling, or step-sibling.
• Your father, mother, grandparent, or other direct ancestor (but not a foster parent).
• Your stepfather or stepmother.
• A son or daughter of your brother or sister (niece or nephew).
• A son or daughter of your half-brother or half-sister.
• A brother or sister of your father or mother (aunt or uncle).
• Your son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.

Important Notes: Relationships established by marriage (like in-laws) are not ended by death or divorce. Your cousin does not meet the relationship test; they must live with you all year to qualify.

This “OR” structure is key. A person only needs to meet one side of this test. This allows you to potentially claim a parent you support even if they live in their own home, or a friend who lives with you full-time.

Gross Income Test

This test sets a strict limit on the potential dependent’s income. The rule is: The person’s gross income for the year must be less than $5,050 (this amount is for tax year 2024 and may change in future years).

Gross Income Defined: This means all income the person received in the form of money, goods, property, and services that is not exempt from tax. It includes things like wages, salaries, unemployment compensation, taxable interest, dividends, pensions, and rents. For self-employed individuals, it’s generally their gross receipts, not their net profit after expenses.

Income NOT Included: Certain types of income are tax-exempt and therefore not counted towards this $5,050 limit. Common examples include:

• Welfare benefits.
• Gifts and inheritances.
• Tax-exempt interest (like from municipal bonds).
• The non-taxable portion of Social Security benefits (a significant portion is often non-taxable, but some may be taxable depending on total income).
• Certain scholarships used for tuition and required fees/books.

Disability Exception: Income earned by a permanently and totally disabled individual for services performed at a sheltered workshop is generally not included in gross income for this test, if the medical care available is the main reason for their presence there.

This gross income test is a major hurdle for many potential qualifying relatives, especially those who work part-time or receive taxable retirement income. It’s critical to distinguish between taxable gross income (which is limited) and non-taxable income (which is not limited by this test, though it might affect the Support Test).

Support Test (for Qualifying Relative)

This test focuses on the support you provide. The rule is: You must provide more than half of the person’s total support for the calendar year.

Difference from Qualifying Child: Remember, the QC test asks if the child provided more than half of their own support. The QR test asks if you provided more than half of the person’s total support.

Calculating Total Support: This requires figuring out the total amount spent on the person’s support from all sources, then determining if your contribution was more than 50%. “Total support” includes money spent on:

• Food
• Lodging (use the fair rental value of the room, apartment, or house they live in)
• Clothing
• Education
• Medical and dental care (including premiums)
• Recreation
• Transportation
• Other necessities.

Sources of Support: Include funds the person used for their own support, even if those funds are normally tax-exempt (like tax-exempt interest or savings). Borrowed amounts used for support also count towards total support.

Social Security & Welfare: Social Security benefits received by the person and used for their support are generally considered contributed by the person themselves towards their own support. Welfare benefits, food stamps, and housing assistance are usually considered support provided by the state or agency, not by the recipient. Calculating total support and your share can be complex, especially when multiple income sources or shared living arrangements are involved. The fair rental value of lodging is often a significant factor.

Multiple Support Agreements: What if no single person provides more than half the support? If you and one or more other eligible people together provide more than half of someone’s support, and you personally provide more than 10% of the total support, you might still be able to claim the person as a dependent under a Multiple Support Agreement.

• To do this, every other person who provided more than 10% of the support (and who could otherwise claim the dependent) must sign a written statement agreeing not to claim the dependent for that year.
• You must keep these signed statements and file Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration, with your tax return.
• Example: You provide 30% of your mother’s support, your sister provides 40%, and your brother provides 30%. No one provided more than half. You could claim your mother if your sister and brother both sign statements agreeing not to claim her, and you file Form 2120.

If the person meets all four of these tests (Not a Qualifying Child, Member/Relationship, Gross Income, Support), plus the three initial gatekeeper tests, they are your Qualifying Relative.

Claiming the Same Person: The Tie-Breaker Rules

It’s possible for a child to meet the five tests to be a Qualifying Child for more than one person. For example, a child might live with both a parent and a grandparent, or with divorced parents. Since only one person can claim the child for most related tax benefits (like the Child Tax Credit, EITC, Head of Household status, etc.), the IRS has specific “tie-breaker” rules to determine who gets priority if the individuals cannot agree.

These rules are applied strictly in the order listed in Publication 501:

1. Parent vs. Non-Parent: If only one of the potential claimants is the child’s parent (biological or adoptive), the parent gets to claim the child.
2. Parents Filing Jointly: If both claimants are the child’s parents and they file a joint tax return, they claim the child on their joint return.
3. Parents Not Filing Jointly (Residency): If both claimants are parents who do not file a joint return, the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the year gets to claim the child.
4. Parents Not Filing Jointly (AGI): If the child lived with each parent for the exact same amount of time, the parent with the higher Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) gets to claim the child.
5. Non-Parents (AGI): If no parent can claim the child as a Qualifying Child (perhaps the parents don’t meet the tests themselves), the non-parent claimant with the highest AGI gets to claim the child.
6. Parent Can Claim But Doesn’t (AGI Comparison): If a parent could claim the child but chooses not to, another person (like a grandparent the child also lives with) can claim the child only if that other person’s AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any parent who could have claimed the child.

Table 2: Tie-Breaker Rules Summary

These tie-breaker rules specifically resolve conflicts when a child meets the Qualifying Child tests for multiple people. They determine who gets to claim the child for a bundle of related tax benefits, not just the dependency itself.

Tax Benefits of Claiming Dependents

Successfully identifying and claiming a dependent on your tax return isn’t just about following rules; it can unlock valuable tax credits and deductions that lower your tax bill or increase your refund. The type of dependent (Qualifying Child or Qualifying Relative) and their specific characteristics (like age or having a Social Security Number) often determine which benefits you might be eligible for. A single dependent could potentially qualify you for several benefits simultaneously.

Here’s an overview of key tax benefits linked to dependents (check IRS resources for the specific tax year requirements):

Child Tax Credit (CTC) & Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC)

These credits are primarily for taxpayers with a Qualifying Child who meets extra requirements.

Key Rules: The child must be under age 17 at the end of the tax year and have a valid Social Security Number (SSN) issued before the tax return due date. Other Qualifying Child tests (relationship, residency, support, joint return) must also be met.

Amount (2024): The maximum CTC is $2,000 per qualifying child. Up to $1,700 of this amount may be refundable through the ACTC, meaning you could get it back even if you don’t owe tax.

Income Limits: The credit starts to phase out (decrease) if your AGI is over $200,000 ($400,000 for married filing jointly).

Resource: See IRS Schedule 8812 instructions and the IRS page on the Child Tax Credit.

Credit for Other Dependents (ODC)

This is a nonrefundable credit for dependents who do not qualify for the CTC.

Who Qualifies: This includes children age 17 or older at year-end, college students (often 19-23), and Qualifying Relatives (like parents, siblings, or even non-relatives living with you all year) who meet the dependent tests.

Amount: The maximum credit is $500 per qualifying dependent. It’s nonrefundable, meaning it can reduce your tax to $0, but you don’t get any part of it back as a refund.

TIN Requirement: The dependent must have an SSN, Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), or Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN).

Income Limits: The phase-out starts at the same income levels as the CTC: AGI over $200,000 ($400,000 for married filing jointly).

Resource: Use the IRS interactive tool: Does My Child/Dependent Qualify for the Child Tax Credit or the Credit for Other Dependents?

Head of Household Filing Status

Claiming a dependent can enable you to use the Head of Household filing status, which usually results in a lower tax rate and a higher standard deduction than filing as Single.

Key Rules: To file as Head of Household, you generally must:

• Be unmarried or “considered unmarried” on the last day of the year.
• Pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
• Have a “qualifying person” live with you in that home for more than half the year (exceptions apply, especially for dependent parents).

The Dependent Connection: Your Qualifying Child or Qualifying Relative often serves as the necessary “qualifying person”. A special rule allows a dependent parent to be your qualifying person even if they don’t live with you, provided you pay more than half the cost of maintaining their main home for the entire year.

Divorced/Separated Parents: Importantly, a custodial parent may often qualify for Head of Household status based on a child, even if the noncustodial parent claims that child as a dependent for the Child Tax Credit using Form 8332.

Resource: See IRS Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

Child and Dependent Care Credit

This credit helps offset the cost of care for a qualifying person if you paid those expenses so you (and your spouse, if married) could work or look for work.

Qualifying Person: For this credit, a qualifying person is generally:

• Your dependent Qualifying Child who was under age 13 when the care was provided.
• Your spouse who was physically or mentally unable to care for themselves and lived with you more than half the year.
• A dependent (or someone who would be your dependent except for income/filing status limits) who was physically or mentally unable to care for themselves and lived with you more than half the year.

Expense & Credit Limits (2024): You can count up to $3,000 in work-related expenses for one qualifying person, or up to $6,000 for two or more. The credit is a percentage (20% to 35%) of these expenses, based on your AGI. The credit is nonrefundable.

Earned Income: You (and your spouse, if filing jointly) must have earned income during the year. Special rules treat a spouse who is a full-time student or disabled as having earned income for purposes of this credit.

Resource: See IRS Form 2441, Child and Dependent Care Expenses, and Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.

Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

The EITC is a significant refundable credit designed for low-to-moderate income working individuals and families.

The Dependent Connection: Having a Qualifying Child dramatically increases the maximum EITC amount you can receive and raises the income limit for eligibility compared to claiming the EITC with no qualifying children.

EITC Qualifying Child Rules: The child must meet specific EITC qualifying child rules: Relationship, Age, Residency (must live with you in the U.S. for more than half the year), and Joint Return tests. A valid SSN is required. Crucially, for EITC purposes only, the Qualifying Child does not need to meet the support test (meaning it doesn’t matter if the child provided more than half their own support).

Tie-Breaker & Custody Rules: The tie-breaker rules apply if a child qualifies more than one person. For divorced or separated parents, generally only the custodial parent can claim the child for EITC.

Resource: Use the EITC Assistant tool on IRS.gov and see the main EITC page. The specific QC rules for EITC are at Qualifying Child Rules.

Education Credits (AOTC & LLC)

If you pay qualified education expenses for a dependent student pursuing higher education, you may be able to claim either the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) or the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC).

AOTC: Worth up to $2,500 per eligible student per year for the first four years of undergraduate education. Up to $1,000 (40%) is refundable. Student must be enrolled at least half-time.

LLC: Worth up to $2,000 per tax return (not per student) per year. It’s nonrefundable and available for undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree courses, as well as courses taken to acquire or improve job skills. There’s no limit on the number of years you can claim it, and the student doesn’t need to be enrolled half-time.

The Dependent Connection: If a student can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return (e.g., their parent’s), the student cannot claim the AOTC or LLC on their own return. The person who claims the student as a dependent is the one who may be eligible to claim the credit, provided they paid qualified expenses and meet income limits.

Resource: See IRS Form 8863, Education Credits, and Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education.

Table 3: Overview of Key Tax Benefits Linked to Dependents

Common Dependent Scenarios: FAQs

Applying these rules can lead to questions in specific situations. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions:

Divorced or Separated Parents: Who Claims the Child?

Q: My ex and I share custody. Who gets to claim our child as a dependent?

A: The general IRS rule gives the claim to the custodial parent. This is the parent with whom the child lived for the greater number of nights during the year. The other parent is the noncustodial parent. If the child lived with each parent for an equal number of nights, the parent with the higher AGI is considered the custodial parent.

Q: Can the noncustodial parent ever claim the child?

A: Yes, under a “special rule”. This can happen if:

• The parents are divorced, legally separated, under a written separation agreement, or lived apart for the last 6 months of the year.
• The child received over half their support from the parents combined.
• The child was in the custody of one or both parents for more than half the year.
• AND the custodial parent signs Form 8332, Release/Revocation of Release of Claim to Exemption for Child by Custodial Parent, or a similar written declaration, releasing their claim to the child for that year. (Rules for pre-1985 or certain pre-2009 divorce decrees might differ slightly, see Pub 504).
• The noncustodial parent MUST attach a copy of the signed Form 8332 (or similar statement/decree pages if applicable) to their tax return.

For more details, see Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals.

Q: If the noncustodial parent claims the child with Form 8332, what tax benefits can they get? What about the custodial parent?

A: The noncustodial parent with a valid Form 8332 can claim the child for the Child Tax Credit (CTC/ACTC) or the Credit for Other Dependents (ODC). However, Form 8332 only transfers these specific benefits. The custodial parent, if otherwise eligible, may still be able to claim Head of Household filing status, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Child and Dependent Care Credit, and the exclusion for dependent care benefits based on that same child. This splitting of benefits is common and important to understand.

Q: Does a state court order saying I can claim the child override IRS rules?

A: No. Federal tax law, not state court orders, dictates who can claim a dependent for federal tax purposes. Even if a divorce decree grants the noncustodial parent the right to claim the child, they must still obtain the signed Form 8332 (or equivalent allowed documentation) from the custodial parent and attach it to their federal tax return to properly claim the child for the CTC/ODC.

College Students: Still Dependents?

Q: Can I still claim my child who is away at college as a dependent?

A: Often, yes. If your child meets the tests for a Qualifying Child, they can be your dependent. The key tests for college students are:

• Age: Under 24 at year-end and a full-time student for at least part of 5 months.
• Residency: Being away at college is usually considered a temporary absence. As long as they intend to return home (e.g., during breaks) and you maintain the home, they are considered to have lived with you for residency purposes.
• Support: The student must not have provided more than half of their own support. Remember, scholarships generally do not count as support provided by the student.

They must also meet the Relationship, Joint Return, and the three general “gatekeeper” tests. See Publication 501.

Q: My college student worked part-time. Do they need to file their own tax return? Can I still claim them?

A: They might need to file their own return. Whether a dependent needs to file depends on their gross income (both earned income like wages, and unearned income like interest/dividends) compared to certain thresholds. Crucially, even if your child is required to file their own tax return, you can still claim them as a dependent if they meet all the dependency tests (QC or QR). See Table 2 in Publication 501 for detailed filing thresholds.

Table 4: Filing Requirements for Single Dependents (Tax Year 2024 – Simplified)

Note: Even if not required, file if tax was withheld to get a refund. See Pub 501 Table 2 for all situations.

Q: Can my dependent college student claim education credits on their own return?

A: No. If you are eligible to claim the student as a dependent, and you do so, only you (the taxpayer claiming the dependent) can claim education credits like the AOTC or LLC based on their expenses. The student cannot claim these credits on their own return. See Publication 970.

Dependents Who Earn Income

Q: My teenage child has a part-time job. Can I still claim them?

A: Yes, most likely as a Qualifying Child. Their earnings don’t automatically disqualify them. The main check is the QC Support Test: did their earnings (when spent on support) cause them to provide more than half of their own support for the year? If not, and they meet the other QC tests, you can claim them.

Q: My elderly parent lives with me and receives Social Security and a small pension. Can I claim them?

A: Possibly, as a Qualifying Relative. You need to check the four QR tests:

• Not a Qualifying Child: Are they your QC or someone else’s? (Probably not due to age).
• Member of Household or Relationship: Do they live with you all year, OR are they your parent? (Parent meets the relationship test, so they don’t have to live with you, although in this case they do).
• Gross Income: Is their taxable gross income less than $5,050 (for 2024)? Remember to only count the taxable portion of their pension and Social Security. Much of Social Security may be tax-free.
• Support: Did you provide more than half of their total support? Remember, the Social Security benefits they use for support count as their contribution to their own support.

Q: When does a dependent have to file their own tax return?

A: As explained above (and in Table 4), it depends on their filing status, age, blindness status, and the amounts of their earned, unearned, and gross income compared to the thresholds in Publication 501, Table 2.

Claiming Relatives (Parents, Grandparents, Siblings, etc.)

Q: Can I claim my parent or grandparent who doesn’t live with me?

A: Yes, potentially as a Qualifying Relative. Parents, grandparents, and other direct ancestors are among the relatives who do not need to live with you to meet the Member of Household or Relationship test. You still must meet the other three QR tests: Not a Qualifying Child, Gross Income (less than $5,050 taxable income for 2024), and Support (you provide >50% of their total support).

Q: My adult sibling lives with me. Can I claim them?

A: Maybe. First, they likely aren’t your Qualifying Child unless they are permanently and totally disabled. So, check the Qualifying Relative tests:

• Not a Qualifying Child: Met (assuming they aren’t disabled or a QC of someone else).
• Member of Household or Relationship: Met (sibling relationship OR lives with you all year).
• Gross Income: Is their taxable gross income less than $5,050 (for 2024)?
• Support: Did you provide more than half their total support?

If yes to all, you may be able to claim them.

Q: What if multiple siblings support a parent?

A: If no single person provides over 50% of the parent’s support, but the group collectively does, you might use a Multiple Support Agreement. If you provide more than 10% of the support, you can claim the parent if every other person who provides more than 10% (and could claim them) signs Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration, agreeing not to claim the parent for that year.

Claiming Non-Relatives (Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Friend, etc.)

Q: Can I claim my boyfriend/girlfriend who lives with me?

A: Possibly, but only as a Qualifying Relative, and they must meet all the QR tests. For a non-relative, the key hurdles are:

• Not a Qualifying Child: They cannot be your QC or anyone else’s QC.
• Member of Household: They must live with you all year as a member of your household (temporary absences okay). They don’t meet the relationship part of the test.
• Gross Income: Their taxable gross income must be less than $5,050 (for 2024).
• Support: You must provide more than half of their total support.
• Local Law: Your living arrangement must not violate local law.

Q: Can I claim my girlfriend’s child who lives with us?

A: This is tricky and depends heavily on the girlfriend’s situation. The child is almost certainly the girlfriend’s Qualifying Child. Because of the “Not a Qualifying Child” test, you generally cannot claim her child as your Qualifying Relative unless the girlfriend (the parent) has very low income, is not required to file a tax return, and either doesn’t file or files only to get a refund of withheld taxes. If the girlfriend is required to file or files to claim credits, her child is her QC, and you cannot claim the child. If the girlfriend meets the non-filer exception, and the child lived with you all year, and the child’s own gross income is less than $5,050, and you provided more than half the child’s total support, then you might be able to claim the child as your Qualifying Relative.

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