Recent tax reform has brought about a lot of changes. One of
these changes is the fact that you can no longer claim the dependent exemption.
However, you can still have dependents who qualify as such
for various tax benefits, such as the Child Tax Credit. In order to be a
dependent for IRS purposes, the person must be a “qualifying child” or relative
and must meet specific criteria.
For children, these criteria include:
l The
person must be your child, an adopted child, a foster child, a sibling, or
otherwise related to you in a qualified way
l The
person must live with you for more than half of the year
l The
person cannot file a joint return in the tax year you claim him or her as a
dependent
l The
person cannot provide more than half of their own support during the given tax
year
l The
person must be under 19 or under 24 if a full-time student; this age
requirement does not apply to those who are permanently disabled
For adults, the criteria are slightly different. They
include:
l Not
also being the “qualifying child” of you or any other taxpayer
l Lives
with you all year as a full member of your home and/or is a relative
l Earns
less than $4,150
l You
must provide more than half of the support for this person each year
As you can see, there are some pretty clear guidelines as to
who counts as a dependent. However, people are sometimes still a bit confused
on this matter, especially if the person they’re claiming as a dependent is not
a blood relative.
If you have confusion, for any reason, about claiming
dependents or about the benefits of claiming them, talk with a tax professional
to make sure you’re doing everything correctly and in a way that is beneficial
for you.