You may help your son pay for his college tuition, but is he really your dependent?  The IRS defines a dependent as a qualifying child or qualifying relative for whom you can claim a tax exemption.  If you financially support a child or a relative, you may be able to claim them as a dependent on your tax return, provided that they meet all requirements below.  The dependent must also be a U.S. citizen, or a resident of the U.S., Canada, or Mexico.  For each exemption you claim in 2024, you can deduct $4,050—keep in mind that if you claim an exemption for a dependent, that dependent can’t take a personal exemption on his or her own tax return.

Qualifying Child

There are five tests that must be met for a child to be considered your qualifying child.

  1. Relationship – The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them (such as your grandchild).  The child may also be your brother, sister, half-sibling, step-sibling, or a descendant of any of them (such as your niece or nephew).
  2. Age – The child must be under age 19, or a full-time student under age 24, or any age if permanently and totally disabled.
  3. Residency – The child must have lived with you for at least 6 months of the tax year.  Temporary absences, such as being away from home at school, are not considered as being absent.
  4. Support – The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.  For example, if you provided $8,000 toward your 19-year-old son’s support, but he provided $12,000 to his own support from a part-time job, a savings account, and student loans, then he is not your dependent.  If you aren’t sure how much support your child provided, our Dependency Support Worksheet can help.
  5. Joint return – The child must not be filing a joint return for the year.  For example, if your 18-year-old daughter lived with you all of 2024 while her husband was serving in the Army and the couple files a joint return, you can’t take an exemption for your daughter.

Qualifying Relative

There are four tests that must be met for a relative to be considered your qualifying relative.  Unlike a qualifying child, a qualifying relative can be any age.

  1. Not a qualifying child test – The person can’t be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer.  For example, if your 6-month-old son lives with your parents and meets the tests to be their qualifying child, then he is not your qualifying relative.
  2. Member of household or relationship test – The person must live with you all year as a member of your household, or be related to you (this includes a child, sibling, parent, grandparent, half-sibling, step-sibling).  If you support your mother-in-law, even if she doesn’t live with you, you can claim her as a dependent if all other tests are met.
  3. Gross income test – The person’s gross income for the year must be less than $5,050 (unless the person is disabled and has income from a sheltered workshop).  Gross income is all taxable income in the form of money, property, and services.
  4. Support test – You must provide more than half of the person’s total support for the year. Our Dependency Support Worksheet can help you calculate how much support you provided.

It is important that your dependent not file their own tax return without checking the box “can be claimed as a dependent.”  If their return is filed before yours and that box is not checked, it will result in the dependent’s return needing to be amended, or you missing out on that tax exemption and potential credits.