Re: Qualifying Dependent Child - Income

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
January 26, 2025
2 replies
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My son should be treated as a dependent even though he earned more that 5050. Your software is incorrect.

I've read through another users same question and you need to know that you need to fix the software.

Also, even when I lie about the earnings, it still states that I'm not head of household status when I clearly am.

DoninGA

How old is your son? Is he a full time student?

If he is age 19 or older, not a full time student and has gross income of $5,050 or more then no one can claim him as a dependent.

If you do not have a dependent on your tax return you cannot have Head of Household filing status if you are Single or Married Filing Separately.

cdcarlileAuthor

He is 20, a fulltime student, and meets all the tests to be a Qualifying Child. The test for income earned being less than 5,050 is for a Qualifying Relative! TT is wrong! income earned is not one of the tests for Qualifying Child and TT needs to fix it.

see the other conversation from another user with the same problem. Here are the IRS rules taken from their Pub 501:

Qualifying Child

Five tests must be met for a child to be your qualifying child. The five tests are:

Tests To Be a Qualifying Child

Tests To Be a Qualifying Relative

The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, or stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly); (b) under age 24 at the end of the year, a student, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly); or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.
The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year.2
The child must not have provided more than half of the child’s own support for the year.
The child must not be filing a joint return for the year (unless that joint return is filed only to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax paid).

If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, generally only one person can actually treat the child as a qualifying child. See Qualifying Child of More Than One Person, later, to find out which person is the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.

The person can't be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer.
The person either (a) must be related to you in one of the ways listed under Relatives who don't have to live with you, or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household2 (and your relationship must not violate local law).
The person's gross income for the year must be less than $5,050.3
You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.4

DoninGA

If he is under the age of 24 and a full time student then you answered a question incorrectly when entering him as your dependent. The program would not ask about the gross income if he was being claimed under the Qualifying Child rules.

Go back and check your answers. Make sure that you indicate he is your child, verify his date of birth, make sure you indicated he lived in your home for the Whole year. you did NOT indicate the he provided for over one-half of his own support. That there was no one else in the home providing support. And that you did NOT check the box "not valid for employment" on the screen for entering his Social Security number.

If all of your answers are correct, then delete him as a dependent and re-enter.

Mike9241

to determine if there is a software bug additional information is needed.

is he a US citizen, resident alien or national or a resident of Canada or Mexico?
did he have the same principal abode as you for more than ½ the tax year? Temporary absences like for school are ignored. (so if he was away at school the answer to this question would be yes).
if he is not a full-time student, is he under 19 at the end of the tax year or if a full-time student, he's under 24 at the end of the tax year?
did he NOT provide over ½ his own support?
did he NOT file a joint return unless there was no tax liability but merely filing jointly to facilitate a refund of taxes withheld or estimates paid?

if the answer to each of the above is yes he should be a qualifying child. check your answers to the questions

if any of the above are answered no then since his gross income is over $5,050 you must provide over 1/2 his support for him to be a qualifying relative

if you conclude, based on the above, that he should be a dependent recheck your answers to the questions.

For example, did he live with you the entire year? If he was temporarily absent, like for school, the answer should be yes.

Head of household

1. Did you have any qualifying dependents? – if no you cannot file as HOH.

2. If yes, was the dependent claimable solely because of a multiple support agreement - if yes you cannot file as HOH, if no was the dependent legally related to the taxpayer by blood - if no you cannot file as HOH.

3. Do you qualify as a surviving spouse because your spouse died in the preceding 2 years and you maintain a home for a child whom you are able to claim as a dependent whether you do or not - you can not file as HOH but as surviving spouse.

4. Were you a nonresident alien at any time during the year - if yes you cannot file as HOH.

5. If you were not legally wed on the last day of the year, see A, if you were then 6.

6. Were you legally wed to a non-resident alien at any time in 2024, if yes see A, if not then 7.

7. If legally married, were you legally separated at the end of 2024 under a decree of separate maintenance, if yes see A, if not then 8.

8. Did you maintain separate living quarters from your spouse, if legally wed, for the last 6 months of 2024, if yes see A, if no you cannot file as HOH.

A. then was the dependent a married child of the taxpayer? if yes, will the dependent child file a joint return with their spouse? if yes you cannot file as HOH. If the dependent child was not married or if married will not file a joint return with their spouse then did the legally related dependent use the taxpayer’s household, for which the taxpayer paid at least ½ the cost, as their principal place of abode for more than ½ the year – then you can file as HOH.