Can I Claim Someone as a Dependent?
Check whether a person is your qualifying child or your qualifying relative under IRC §152, and whether an exception rules them out. Each test shows pass or fail with its citation. A tie-breaker below settles who may claim a child that more than one person could.
Tax year 2025 follows Pub. 501 (2025); tax year 2026 uses the $5,300 qualifying relative income limit from Rev. Proc. 2025-32. Last verified 2026-09-20.
Is this person your qualifying child?
A person is your qualifying child only when all five tests are met (IRC §152(c)(1)).
- Relationship: your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, half or step sibling, or a descendant of any of them, such as a grandchild or a niece or nephew.
- Age: younger than you and either under 19 at the end of the year or a full-time student under 24. A person who is permanently and totally disabled meets the test at any age.
- Residency: lived with you for more than half the year, with exceptions for temporary absences and for a child who was born or died during the year.
- Support: did not provide more than half of their own support.
- Joint return: did not file a joint return, unless the return was filed only to claim a refund of withheld or estimated tax.
Passing all five makes the person a qualifying child of you. If someone else also passes them, see the tie-breaker.
Is this person your qualifying relative?
A qualifying relative can be any age. All four tests must be met (IRC §152(d)(1)).
- Not a qualifying child of you or of any other taxpayer.
- Related to you in a listed way (a child, parent, grandparent, sibling, niece or nephew, aunt or uncle, stepparent, or in-law), or a member of your household all year. Someone who was your spouse at any time during the year never qualifies.
- Gross income under $5,200 for 2025 ($5,300 for 2026). The test is “less than,” so income of exactly $5,200 fails for 2025.
- You provided more than half of their total support, or a multiple-support agreement or a divorced-parent release applies.
Three exceptions that apply to both
A person who passes every qualifying child or qualifying relative test is still not your dependent if any of these applies (IRC §152(b)).
- Dependent taxpayer: someone else can claim you (or your spouse on a joint return) as a dependent, unless that person files only to claim a refund of withheld or estimated tax.
- Joint return: the person filed a joint return with their own spouse, unless only to claim a refund of withheld or estimated tax.
- Citizen or resident: the person is not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. resident alien, or resident of Canada or Mexico, with an exception for a child you adopted.
Who may claim the child? The tie-breaker
When a child is a qualifying child of more than one person, only one of them can treat the child as a qualifying child for the child tax credit, head of household status, the child and dependent care credit, dependent care benefits, and the earned income credit. List each person who passes every qualifying child test. Parents who file a joint return together are one person: enter their joint AGI.
Related questions
Whether a person you claim as a dependent must file a return of their own is a separate test: see Do I have to file a tax return?. A person who can be claimed as your dependent also has a limited standard deduction: see the standard deduction calculator.
Common Questions
Who counts as my dependent?
A dependent is either a qualifying child or a qualifying relative, and the person must also clear three exceptions. IRC §152(a) draws the line and Pub. 501 Table 5 summarizes it. A person cannot be both for you: the qualifying relative tests start by excluding anyone who is a qualifying child.
What are the five qualifying child tests?
Relationship (your child, sibling, or a descendant of either), age (under 19, or a full-time student under 24, or disabled at any age, and younger than you), residency (lived with you more than half the year), support (the child did not pay for more than half of their own support), and joint return (the child did not file a joint return other than only for a refund). IRC §152(c)(1) lists all five.
What are the four qualifying relative tests?
The person is not a qualifying child of anyone, is related to you in a listed way or lived with you all year as a member of your household, had gross income under $5,200 for 2025 ($5,300 for 2026), and you paid more than half of their support. IRC §152(d)(1) lists all four.
My adult child is 24. Can I still claim them?
Not as a qualifying child unless they are permanently and totally disabled, because the student exception stops before age 24. You may still claim them as a qualifying relative if their gross income is under the limit and you pay more than half of their support.
Can I claim my parent or grandparent?
Yes, as a qualifying relative, if their gross income for the year is under $5,200 (2025) and you provide more than half of their support. Taxable Social Security, pensions, and other taxable income count toward that limit; Social Security that stays out of gross income does not, but it counts as support they provided for themselves.
A child lives with two of us. Who claims them?
Only one person can treat the child as a qualifying child for the credits and filing status that depend on the child. The tie-breaker in IRC §152(c)(4) decides: a parent beats a non-parent; two parents who do not file together split on the longer time with the child, then the higher AGI; and if no parent can claim, the higher AGI wins. The tie-breaker panel below applies it.
Can my ex-spouse claim our child even though the child lives with me?
Yes, if you are the custodial parent and you sign a release (Form 8332 or a similar statement) and your ex attaches it to their return. That lets the noncustodial parent claim the child as a dependent and for the child tax credit and the credit for other dependents. It does not let them use the child for head of household status, the earned income credit, or the child and dependent care credit.
What if two relatives together pay for a person’s support?
A multiple-support agreement can let one of them claim the person. No one may have paid more than half; the one who claims must have paid more than 10 percent; and every other eligible contributor who paid more than 10 percent must sign a written declaration (Form 2120) that they will not claim the person.
Does being a dependent get me a credit?
Being a dependent is the first step, not the whole answer. The child tax credit, the credit for other dependents, head of household status, and the earned income credit each add their own tests, such as the child being under 17 or having a Social Security number. This page covers only the dependent tests.
Is this calculator free?
Yes. It is free, with no signup, and it shows every test with its citation.