Find Answers on Who Qualify as a Dependent and What Is The Age Limit For Children
By Irel Wong on October 8, 2020
Photo by August de Richelieu from Pexels
Are you wondering if your 26 year old son or daughter that is still living at home can be claimed as a dependent on your tax return? How about that Niece and her son that you’ve been providing for all year? How about mom and dad who receive social security income? Continue reading for answers to these and other questions about what dependents you can claim on your taxes.
With tax changes each year comes new questions about who can be added as a dependent. For most young nuclear family units this may not be an issue but for others, the lines seem to cross over into that gray area as children get older. Many caregivers and providers of siblings and relatives see them as dependents especially when they live in their house but the IRS is very clear on the issue.
Who is considered a Dependent?
In order to qualify as a dependent, the person must be identified as a qualifying child or qualifying relative. As you will see below, a qualifying child does not have to be your biological child and a qualifying relative does not have to be related to you. They just need to fall under one of these categories.
Qualifying Child
The IRS has 5 things to determine a qualifying child dependent.
A qualifying child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
They must be younger than you and under the age of 19 at the end of the year if they are not a student and under the age of 24 if they are a student. If they are permanently and totally disabled, then there is no age limit.
They must have lived with you for more than half the year
must not have contributed more than half of their support the year
They cannot be filing a joint tax return, and their gross income must be less than $4200.
Qualifying Relative
The IRS has 4 things to determine a qualifying relative.
The person you are claiming as a qualifying relative cannot be your qualifying child and cannot be a qualifying child of someone else on their tax return.
They must be related to you or they must have lived with you for more than half of the year. There is also a caveat that your relationship must not be in violation of the local law. An example of this is if you live with your girlfriend for the whole year. But, because she is already married to someone else, your relationship violated the law of the state you live in. In this case she would not be considered a qualifying relative.
Their gross income must be less than $4200
You must have provided more than half their support for the year.
Photo by Emre Kuzu from Pexels
Parents and Grandparents
Many children and grandchildren have the awesome privilege of taking care of their parents and/or grandparents. Make sure you don’t miss out on dependent credits for the wonderful job you are already doing. Parents and grandparents fall under the qualifying relative category but they do not have to live with you all year. Even if they are in a nursing home to receive the care they need, they are still considered a qualifying relative. The $4200 gross income restriction for qualifying relatives also applies to parents and grandparents including taxable social security benefits.
What to do when someone claims your dependent fraudulently
With over 14 million consumers suffering from identity theft in 2019, the IRS hasn’t been exempt. Every year more and more taxpayers are reporting that their identity or the identity of their dependent was stolen and taxes were filed using their information. If you are a victim, here are the steps to take towards resolving the issue. Make sure you double check your dependent’s information for possible errors. This is common especially with social security numbers. If the name and social security number is correct, follow these three steps:
File a paper return including your dependent and mail it in to the IRS. Since there will be an investigation, your tax refund will be delayed.
Provide sufficient proof about your claim for the dependent. Birth certificates, proof of identity, proof that your dependent’s address is the same as yours are all supporting documents.
Look out for follow up letters from the IRS and respond quickly following the directions outlined in the letter.
These steps will help you get a quicker resolution and also alert the IRS for future tax filing with your dependent.
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