Who Qualifies As A Dependent On Your Tax Return?

On lines 6a, b and c of the federal income tax form 1040, you are asked to list dependants, and you are awarded an "exemption" for each one. The more exemptions you can list, the less you pay in taxes, so dependants are a good thing.

But who exactly is a dependant? You may feel like the next door neighbor who constantly borrows things is a dependent, but unless he's a relative, he doesn't qualify. Generally, a dependant is either a child or another relative.

Qualifying child

According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), to be a "qualifying child," the child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister or a descendant of any of them.

The child must be under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you or your spouse (if filing jointly) under age 24 at the end of the year, a full-time student and younger than you or your spouse (if filing jointly) or any age if permanently and totally disabled. 

The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year and not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

To qualify as a dependent on your tax return, the child cannot file a joint return for the year unless that joint return is filed only as a claim for refund.

And it goes without saying, that a child can only be claimed as a dependent on one tax return.

Other relatives

In addition to children, other relatives can qualify as dependents under certain circumstances. The person either must be related to you or must live with you all year as a member of your household.

The person's gross income for the year must be less than $3,650 and you must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.

Finally, you cannot claim any dependents if you or your spouse (if filing jointly) could be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer. You cannot claim a married person who files a joint return as a dependent unless that joint return is only a claim for refund and there would be no tax liability for either spouse on separate returns.

You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.

For the 2010 tax year, deductions for each dependent totals $3,650.