Federal taxes who is a dependent

ITA Home This interview will help you determine whom you may claim as a dependent. Information You'll Need Marital status, relationship to the dependent, and the amount of support provided. Basic income information such as your adjusted gross income. DO claim certain family members such as parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, nieces or nephews as qualifying relatives.

You should claim certain family members only if:. Unless the child was born within the tax year, the child must have lived with you at least six months of the tax year to fall under the qualifying child rules. Are gifts given to individuals considered tax deductible?

Do you have unreimbursed expenses to include on your tax return? Learn how tax reform has changed the rules for unreimbursed employee expenses. If someone qualifies as your dependent, you are entitled to claim them on your tax return unless you or your spouse qualify as a dependent for another person. If someone else can claim you or your spouse, if filing jointly as a dependent, whether or not they actually claim you , then you are not allowed to claim any dependents of your own.

If a person is your qualifying child according to the IRS requirements, then you can claim that person as your dependent. A qualifying child must be related to you, but they do not have to actually be your child. A child whom you legally adopt is always considered your child. If you adopted a child who is not a U. If a child was placed with you for a pending legal adoption, they are considered to be your adopted child for the purposes of claiming a dependent.

See the qualifying child requirements OR answer a few simple questions on our DEPENDucator tax tool below to find out if you can claim a qualifying child dependent! Find out if your child is a dependent now! If someone meets the IRS requirements to be your qualifying relative, you may claim them as a dependent. A qualifying relative does not have to actually be related to you, as long as they lived with you all year and they meet other requirements.

Answer a few simple questions and the tool will have your answer if you can claim a qualifying relative dependent! You may claim as a dependent each child who is what the IRS calls a "qualifying child. Most qualifying children are the biological, adopted, or stepchildren of the taxpayers who claim them as dependents, but this doesn't have to be the case.

For example, a brother, sister, or grandchild can be your qualifying child if he or she is under 19, lives with you over half the year, provides less than half of his or her own support, and is a U. Moreover, a qualifying child can be as old as 23 if he or she is enrolled in school full-time. To claim a child as a dependent, you must list the child's Social Security number on your tax return.

This rule is intended to prevent people from claiming tax credits and other benefits for children who don't really exist. See the Social Security Administration website at www. It takes about two weeks to get a Social Security number.

Individual Income Tax Return. If you or your spouse is expecting a child, apply for a Social Security number at the hospital when you apply for your baby's birth certificate. The state agency that issues birth certificates will share your child's information with the Social Security Administration and it will mail the Social Security card to you.

Most dependents are taxpayers' children. But they don't always have to be. If you contribute toward the support of a parent or other relative or even a nonrelative in some cases , you could be entitled to claim the person as a dependent.