Can you claim to be a dependent person? Who qualifies and who doesn’t?

Claiming people with your income tax return can save money. Unfortunately, you cannot pretend as a dependent person. A tax dependence is someone who counts on you for at least 50% of his support, like a child or another parent.

The rules to claim dependent people can be complicated, so we will decompose who counts as a dependent person and who does not. We will also explain how to claim a dependence on your federal income declaration, as well as certain tax credits and deductions to which you may be eligible if you are eligible for claiming dependent.

A dependence on the qualification tax is a person other than you or your spouse that you can claim on your tax return. The person must be either a qualifying child or an eligible parent. (We will explain what each of these terms means in the next section.)

In the past, asserting a dependent person could reduce your tax obligation because you can take a personal exemption as well as an exemption for each dependence. In 2017, the last taxation year in which exemptions were around, each exemption could reduce your tax bill to $ 4,050. However, the tax on tax reductions and jobs (TCJA) has eliminated both personal exemptions and dependence exemptions from 2018.

The complaint of dependents is always delivered with several tax advantages: however: however:

• If you are single, having dependent people can allow you to qualify for the state of household deposit, which offers a more important standard deduction than the unique declarants.

• You can earn more money and always eligible for the earned income tax credit (EITC).

• You can be eligible for children’s tax credit and an additional tax credit if you have dependent children who were under 17 at the end of the year.

• You can be eligible for other deductions and tax credits. For example, the care credit for children and dependents is available for people who have paid the care of a child under the age of 13 or a parent who could not worry about self. The other dependent credit is worth $ 500 and is available if you support people with any age who meet certain criteria.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows you to claim tax dependence only in the following circumstances:

• No one can claim you or your spouse (if you are married to register jointly) as dependent on their income statements. There are exceptions if the person who claims you represents only a declaration to obtain a refund of taxes or taxes estimated before.

• The person you claim is not eligible to produce a joint income tax return. (Again, an exception applies if dependence or their spouse represents only taxes to obtain a refund on the taxes selected or estimated.)

• The person you claim must be an American citizen, a resident foreigner or a national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.

• The person must meet the criteria of the IRS to a qualified child or an eligible parent.

All the following elements must be true if you claim a child like your dependent:

1. The child is linked to you: The child must be your son or daughter (including an adopted child), a stepson, a child with foster family, a brother or a sister, a half-brother, a beautiful game or a descendant of one of these people.

2. The child is younger than a certain age: The IRS imposes the following age restrictions to claim a child as a dependent person:

• If the child does not respond to the definition of the IRS of a full -time student, he must be 18 or less at the end of the taxation year and younger than you (and younger than your spouse if you are married and produce a joint declaration).

• If the child is a full -time student, he must be 23 years old or less at the end of the tax year and younger than you (and younger than your spouse if you produce a common income declaration).

• The child may be any age if they are completely handicapped.

3. The child lived with you for more than half of the year: There are exceptions for temporary absences, as if a qualified child frequents college far from home, as well as for other circumstances, as if the child was born or died during the taxation year or if he was adopted halfway through the year.

4. The child did not provide more than half of his financial support for the year: You can always claim your child as a dependent person if they have a job, but you cannot claim it as a dependent person if they provide more than 50% of their own financial support for the year. Financial support may include accommodation, food, clothing, medical and dental costs on foot and education expenses.

Example: You have a 14 -year -old daughter who lives at home all year round and counts on you for all her financial support. She is clearly your qualification child. You also have a 21 -year -old son who frequents college outside the full -time state and you pay more than half of his expenses. He also counts as your qualified child. But if he obtains his diploma or abandoned from the school, he will no longer count as your child qualifying because he is over 18 years old. Likewise, if he works enough to pay more than half of his invoices, he is not your qualified child according to the rules of the IRS.

For the IRS to consider someone your parent eligible for tax purposes, the following must be true:

1. The person is not your qualified child. Nor can the person be considered as another eligible child of a taxpayer.

2. The person is either someone who has lived in your household throughout the taxation year or is linked to you in one way or another. Examples of people whom IRS considers your loved ones include a child (who does not respond to the definition of the qualified child), the steps, the brother, the niece or the nephew, the parent, the stepparent, the brother-in-law, the grandparent, the aunt or the uncle. Note that if the person is considered a parent, he does not necessarily have to live with you to qualify as dependence.

3. The gross income of the person for the year was $ 5,050 or less in 2024 (the amount increased to $ 5,200 in 2025.) There is an exception if the person has a handicap and receives income from a sheltered workshop, which is an organization that offers job possibilities for people with certain mental or physical deficiencies.

4. You provide at least half of the person’s financial support for the year. Exceptions may apply when the parents are divorced or separated if the guardian parent has signed an agreement that they will not claim the child in their own declaration of income.

Example: You have a boyfriend or a girlfriend who does not work and who lives with you all year round. As long as you provide at least half of their support and that they had no more than $ 5,050 in gross income, they are considered an eligible parent even if they are not linked to you because they were members of your household throughout the year. You also provide most of the financial support of your elderly mother. Its only other source of income is social security, and none of its advantages is taxable. As long as her gross income has not exceeded $ 5,050, she still counts as your eligible parent, even if she does not live at home.

With a few exceptions, you generally cannot claim the following people as tax dependents,:

• Yourself

• Your spouse

• A child of 19 or over who is not a full -time student or a child who is 24 years old or over, unless he is disabled or lives at home and earns less than $ 5,050 (2024) or $ 5,200 (2025), and you provide most of his financial support

• Someone who is not a parent – unless he lived with you throughout the year, earns less than $ 5,050 in 2024 and counted on you for most of his support

• A parent who won more than $ 5,050 in 2024 or does not count on you for the majority of their support

• Someone who can be claimed as a person with another taxpayer

• Someone who is eligible to produce a joint income tax return

• Anyone who is not an American citizen, a foreign resident or national, or resident of Canada or Mexico

Advice: To obtain all the official rules on the claim of dependents, consult Publication IRS 501.

You can claim dependents on your taxes via the 1040 form. You will need to provide the following information on each dependent:

You will also be asked if you claim the children’s tax credit or another dependent credit on their behalf.

If you yourself, the best tax software will facilitate dependent people. You simply provide the above information for each person you claim.

If you do not know if you can claim someone as your dependent, you can use the IRS Interactive tax assistant To determine their eligibility. But due to the complexity of the rules, always consult a professional income preparer if you have any questions about what is authorized.

How long can you claim a dependent child?

You can generally claim a child who is not married, live with you most of the year and count on you for most of his support until he reaches the age of 19 if they are not students. This age increases at 24 if they are a full -time student. There is no age limit if the child has permanent handicaps.

How many dependents should I claim?

You must claim anyone as an eligible child or an eligible parent under the tax code. There is no limit on the number of dependents you can claim.

What tax credits can I claim if I have dependents?

You can be eligible for children’s tax credit and an additional tax credit if you have eligible children who were 16 or less at the end of the year. You can also receive the child and care credit for dependents if you have paid child care for a dependent child under the age of 13 or for the care of a parent who could not take care of themselves. Credit for other dependents may be available if you have dependents but you cannot claim the children’s tax credit or an additional tax credit on its behalf. You can also be eligible for income tax credit earned at higher income levels if you have dependent people.

What happens if I accidentally pretended as a dependent person?

If you have accidentally claimed as a dependent person or a similar error, you will have to deposit Form 1040-X, modification of the income declaration of American individuals. You will have to do so as soon as possible to minimize the penalties and interests you could cope with if you owe money due to the error.