Child

There are several tests to consider to see if a person is your qualifying child. We ask about age so that we can determine the amount of your child tax credit, dependent care credit, and earned income credit.

To qualify as your dependent, a person must be either a qualifying child or a qualifying relative. All dependents must meet these tests:

1. The person must be a U.S. citizen or resident alien, a resident of Canada or Mexico, or your adopted child who lived with you all year in a foreign country.

2. If married, the person cannot be filing a joint tax return unless the return is being filed just to get a refund of withheld taxes.

3. The tax return filed (if any) by the person cannot include dependents.

A qualifying child must also meet all these tests:

1. The person’s relationship to you must be in a list of particular relationships. The relationships include your son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, eligible foster child or descendent of such child, or your brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister or any descendent. An eligible foster child is one placed by an authorized agency or order of any court of competent jurisdiction. A legally adopted individual (or one placed with you by an authorized agency for adoption) is considered your child.

2. The person must be under age 19 or a full time student under age 24. There is no age limit for a person who is totally and permanently disabled during the year.

3. The person must have lived with you for over half the year.

4. The person must not have provided over one-half of his or her own support.

5. If a child is the qualifying child of two or more people, then these criteria are applied in the following order to determine who can claim the child: parents have priority over others; between parents, the parent with whom the child lived the longest has priority; if none of these rules breaks the tie, then the person with the highest adjusted gross income can claim the child. Divorced or separated parents can decide between themselves who can claim the child.

A qualifying relative (NOT a qualifying child, but still a dependent) must meet all these tests (put these dependents in the “Other Dependents” box):

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer

2. The person’s relationship to you must be in the list for “qualifying child” or in the following list: your parents, their ancestors (your grandparents) and siblings (your aunts and uncles); your step-parents; your son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in law. Also, an individual (other than your spouse) who was a member of your household all year will be considered a qualifying relative as long as the relationship does not violate local law.

3. The person's gross income must be under $3,400.

4. You (or your spouse, if married) paid over half the person's total living expenses for the year. Alternatively, you meet this test if:

   • the person is your child, and either you had custody for more than half the year, or the child's other parent has agreed to allow you to claim the child as your dependent under a divorce or separation agreement, or
   • you provided at least 10% of the person's support, no one person provided more than half the person's support and the other people who supported the person agree than you can claim the person as your dependent.