The IRS has specific criteria that must be met to claim a child as a dependent. These include the child's age, relationship to the taxpayer, and residency. For example, the child must be under 19 (or 24 if a full-time student) and must have lived with the taxpayer for more than half of the year.
Residency: Generally, to be claimed as a dependent, you must have lived with your parents for more than half of the year. Since you moved out at 18, this could affect their ability to claim you.
Legally, only the custodial parent can claim a child unless they have agreed to allow a non-custodial parent to claim their child as a dependent, but the permission must be given in writing by signing IRS Form 8332 or similar document.
You can claim a child as a dependent if he or she is your qualifying child. Generally, the child is the qualifying child of the custodial parent. The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the year.
If you file your tax return and someone else has already claimed your dependent, then the IRS will reject your return. If your return was rejected, you can mail in your return and then the IRS will apply the tiebreaker rules.
To meet the qualifying child test, your child must be younger than you or your spouse if filing jointly and either younger than 19 years old or be a "student" younger than 24 years old as of the end of the calendar year.
The person either (a) must be related to you in one of the ways listed under Relatives who don't have to live with you (see Table 2, step 2), or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household2 (and your relationship must not violate local law).
Answer: No, because your child would not meet the age test, which says your “qualifying child” must be under age 19 or 24 if a full-time student for at least 5 months out of the year. To be considered a “qualifying relative”, his income must be less than $5,050 in 2024 ($4,700 in 2023).
The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
Qualifying child
Age: Be under age 19 or under 24 if a full-time student, or any age if permanently and totally disabled. Residency: Live with you for more than half the year, with some exceptions. Support: Get more than half their financial support from you.
A person cannot be claimed as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico, for some part of the year. (There is an exception for certain adopted children.) A dependent must be either a qualifying child or qualifying relative.
You can claim a child who works as a dependent if they still meet the requirements to be a qualifying child – including the age, relationship, residency, and support tests.
Because you are technically filing your taxes under penalty of perjury, everything you claim has to be true, or you can be charged with penalty of perjury. Failing to be honest by claiming a false dependent could result in 3 years of prison and fines up to $250,000.
If you are the custodial parent, you can use Form 8332 to do the following. Release a claim to exemption for your child so that the noncustodial parent can claim an exemption for the child.
Qualifying children must live with you more than half the year. The following qualifying relatives do not have to live with you all year as a member of your household. Your child, stepchild, or foster child, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your grandchild).
Changes to Certain Benefits
The five dependency tests – relationship, gross income, support, joint return and citizenship/residency – continue to apply to a qualifying relative. A child who is not a qualifying child might still be a dependent as a qualifying relative.
Tax credit per child for 2024
The maximum tax credit per qualifying child is $2,000 for children under 17. For the refundable portion of the credit (or the additional child tax credit), you may receive up to $1,700 per qualifying child.
As a rule of thumb, you must provide more than half of your qualifying relative's total support. To claim a dependent, you cannot qualify as a dependent of another taxpayer. Your potential dependent(s) must also meet the rules for qualifying child or qualifying relative.
There is no age limit for how long you can claim adult children or other relatives as dependents, but they must meet other IRS requirements to continue to qualify. Additionally, once they are over 18 and no longer a student, they can only qualify as an "other dependent," not a qualifying child.
Can they claim an exemption for me as a dependent or qualifying child on their tax return? Share: It's possible, but once you're over age 24, you can no longer be claimed as a qualifying child. The only exception to this is if you're permanently and totally disabled.
If the noncustodial parent claims your child without permission. When the noncustodial parent claims the exemption on their taxes and they don't attach the required Form 8332 signed by the custodial parent, their tax filing doesn't comply with IRS rules. The IRS may enforce its rules.
After the IRS decides the issue, the IRS will charge (or, “assess”) any additional taxes, penalties, and interest on the person who incorrectly claimed the dependent. You can appeal the decision if you don't agree with the outcome, or you can take your case to U.S. Tax Court.
If the child lived with each parent for an equal number of nights, as is often the case of ex-spouses with joint custody, the custodial parent is the parent with the higher Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). Parents can also release their dependent claim to the other parent by completing Form 8332.