Can someone else claim a child on taxes as a dependent?
Full Question:
Answer:
The answer will depend on whether or not the child is a "qualifying child" under the IRS rules regarding claiming other people's children as dependents. Two people cannot claim the children at the same time.
The most common reason to claim someone as a dependent on your taxes is because they are a qualifying child. To be a qualifying child, the dependent must meet all six of the following tests:
- Relationship: the dependent must be your child (including foster, step, or adopted child), your sibling (including half or step), or any of their descendants (e.g., your grandchild, niece, or nephew)
- Age: the dependent must be under 19 and younger than you (younger than either you OR your spouse if filing jointly), under 24 and a full-time student for at least part of 5 months of the calendar year, or permanently and totally disabled regardless of age.
- Residency: the dependent must live with you for at least half the calendar year.
- Support: the child cannot have provided more than half of his or her own support (i.e., necessary living expenses) for the year
- Joint Return: the child cannot have filed a joint return with a spouse, except if the return was only filed to claim a refund
- Special Test: if the parents are divorced, only one can claim the child as a qualifying child. If both would be otherwise eligible, this is usually the parent with the highest gross income, unless the parents have agreed otherwise.
Qualifying Relative
If your potential dependent does not qualify as a qualifying child, he may instead be classified as a qualifying relative, and still be claimed as a dependent. To be a qualifying relative, the dependent must meet all of the following tests. Note that there is no age test for a qualifying relative.
- Not a qualifying child: A dependent cannot be deemed your qualifying relative if he is a qualifying child for you or any other taxpayer.
- Relationship: the dependent must live with your OR, if he does not live with you, be your child (including foster, adopted, step, or in-law), your sibling (including half, step, or in-law), your parent or grandparent (including step or in-law but NOT including foster), or a direct descendant of any of the preceding relatives.
- Gross income: the relative’s gross income must be less than $3,650
- Support: you must provide more than half of the support for this person during the year. If multiple parties combine to provide more than 50% (e.g., two adult children each provide 30% of a parent’s support), any one taxpayer who provides more than 10% can claim the relative with the written permission of the others.
