- As of this writing, the age of a dependent matters only if you are claiming the dependent as a qualifying child. For dependent relatives, the person’s age doesn’t matter. A youth under the age of 19 years meets the age requirement to be a dependent child, as does a full-time student under the age of 24. A permanently disabled child qualifies regardless of age.
- To qualify as a dependent child, you must live with the person claiming you (e.g., your mother or father) for at least half the year. However, the IRS makes exceptions for temporary absences, including schooling, medical care, vacations and military service. To qualify as a dependent relative, you must either be related to the person claiming you, or live with the person for the entire year. As with dependent children, exceptions apply for certain kinds of temporary absence.
- As a dependent child, you can’t provide for more than half of your own support. For example, if your expenses for the year totaled $20,000, you could not provide for more than $10,000 and still qualify as a dependent child. To qualify as a dependent relative, the person claiming you as a dependent must provide more than half your support. In other words, if your support totals $20,000, the person claiming you as a dependent relative must pay more than $10,000 toward your support.
- The IRS does not limit the amount of money dependent children can earn in a year. If you are a dependent relative, however, you can’t earn more money than the value of your personal tax exemption for the year. As an example, the 2011 personal exemption value is $3,700; therefore, if you earned more than $3,700 in 2011, you would not qualify as a dependent relative.
Age Test
Household Membership Test
Support Test
Gross Income Limits
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