Benzinga Money is a reader-supported publication. Learn about the best online tax software you can use to file this year, based on fees, platforms, ease-of-use, and more. TD Ameritrade, Inc. and Accretive Capital LLC are separate, unaffiliated companies and Just for reference, here are those criteria: You must have one of following relationships to your parents: child (biological, step, adopted, or foster), brother or sister, or a descendant of one of these. Generally, the child is the qualifying child of the custodial parent. If youre a young adult, you may be wondering how to file your taxes. Although hes too old to be your qualifying child, he may qualify as a qualifying relative if he earned less than $4,300 in 2020. Of course, each tax situation is different and some families with over $80,000 adjusted taxable income may find that their income is too high to qualify for the American Opportunity Credit and similar educational credits. To qualify as a dependent, Your parent must not have earned or received more than the gross income test limit for the tax year. Can I claim him as a dependent? Required fields are marked *. Advertiser Your email address will not be published. If your income disqualifies you from claiming these credits, your childs income probably doesnt disqualify him or her. However, if you worked and gave money to your parents to help cover bills, the amount you paid toward your living expenses cannot be more than your parents provided. Your email address will not be published. To claim a dependent child, 7 qualifications (or 7 tests) must be met: The child must not claim anyone as a dependent, even if he or she has a qualifying child of his or her own or another qualifying relative. In certain situations, you can claim your parent as a dependent and file as head of household (HOH). You may claim your daughter as your dependent if she lived with you the entire year and didnt make more than $4,050 last year. Can my parents claim me as a dependent if I make more money? Your family member will get a tax break. For example, if you earned $10,000 at your part-time job last year and gave $8,000 to your parents to cover household expenses since you live with them, your parents must have paid over $8,001 through the year to cover the remaining of your living expenses to be able to claim you as a dependent. However, you may still need to file a tax return if you have income. @quynhtrang123 Being Claimed on Your Parents' Taxes, When Your Parents Can Still Claim You as a Dependent, When Your Parents Can't Claim You as a Dependent, How to File Taxes as an Independent Contractor, Do Not Sell My Personal Data/Privacy Policy. As a dependent, you do not qualify to claim those tax benefits. To qualify as your dependent for purposes of the $500 credit, your parent must pass a gross income test. If you dont meet all of the seven criteria as outlined in the dependency test, then you cannot be claimed by your parents as a dependent. Since it is crucial to this determination, the IRS made a handy guide to help you calculate financial support. And that process always leads to the question, Can my parents still claim me as a dependent?. Disclosure: This includes many college students, disabled Americans and elderly dependents. You must be under the age of 19 for your parents to claim you as a dependent. Do you live with your parents? If your parents paid more than 50% of a qualifying childs expenses, the parent can claim you as a dependent on You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. In this case, your son is too old to be your Qualifying Child. If your income is 2019 was less than $4,200, then the relative who paid the majority of your expenses can claim you. 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. If thats the case and you provided more than half of his support during the year, you may claim him as a dependent. If your parent has other income from interest or dividends, a portion of the Social Security may also be taxable. It will ask you if somebody else can claim you. We may earn a commission when you click on links in this article. Dependents also cannot claim any dependents on their own tax return. No, your parents cannot claim you as a dependent. If your parents paid However, if youre preparing your taxes in April for the previous year, and if he turned 19 in January, he qualifies as your dependent. i made just shy of 4,000 im not a student but i wasnt actually living in their home for the full year i moved out and was gone for atleast 5 months possibly 6 im not entirely sure. Rest assured, you will have many other years to file your own tax return. - You cannot claim a person 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. Its worth your time to find the right tax preparation software to walk you through the 7 tests to determine if you can be considered a dependent child. While you may do so as long as your child is either under age 19 (if a non-student) or under age 24 (if a student), there is a compelling reason to not claim your child as a dependent. Can more than one person claim a parent as a dependent? The custodial parent is the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period of time during the year. They do not live with me, but I still provide for them. See this link to Table 5 in IRS Publication 501 for more details. Determining whether your parents can claim you on their taxes can be complicated matter. There are specific qualifications you and your parent must meet to claim them as a dependent. I don't live with my parents, I live on-campus and am on my school's provided health insurance. An exception to this rule is a college student who lives away on campus throughout the year. For your parents to claim you as a dependent child, you must live with them more than 50 percent of the year. It also means you cant claim a relativesay a cousinif someone else, such as his parents, also claim him. expressed here are solely the authors and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by If your parents claim you as a dependent on their taxes, they claim certain tax benefits associated with having a dependent.