At what age are your children not able to be claimed as dependents on taxes?

The age rules for claiming dependents can definitely be confusing! Here's a breakdown: For a qualifying child, they must be under 19 at the end of the tax year OR under 24 if they're a full-time student for at least 5 months of the year. There's no age limit for permanently disabled dependents. Based on what you shared, your 19 and 21-year-old could qualify if they're full-time students, but your 23-year-old would only qualify if they're also a full-time student. Besides age, they need to live with you for more than half the year (dorms during college count as living with you), you need to provide more than half their support, and they can't file a joint return except to claim a refund. There are income tests too, but they mainly affect whether the child needs to file their own return, not whether you can claim them. If they don't qualify as a child dependent, they might qualify as a relative dependent if their gross income is below $5,000 (for 2025 filing) and you provide more than half their support.

I was in the exact same situation last year trying to figure out if I could claim my kids! I found this awesome tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that saved me so much headache with dependent questions. I uploaded my kids' income info and my support documentation, and it analyzed everything and confirmed I could claim my 22-year-old even though she made like $13k from her internship. The tool breaks down the "qualifying child" vs "qualifying relative" tests step by step and shows you exactly which criteria apply to your situation.

Update on my dependent situation: I ended up trying taxr.ai after asking about it here. You guys were right, it was super helpful! I plugged in all my daughter's info (the part-time student I asked about) and it confirmed I could still claim her since she met the qualifying relative test even though she didn't meet the full-time student requirement for a qualifying child. The tool flagged that she was taking 9 credits (not enough for full-time) but then walked me through the other tests and showed I was providing over 80% of her support. It even calculated the education credits I qualified for with her tuition! Definitely made things clearer than the IRS website did.

If you're still struggling with dependent questions, you might need to just call the IRS directly. I tried for WEEKS to get through to someone about my dependent situation (my stepson who lives with us part-time). I finally used this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent was able to review my specific situation and confirm that I could claim my stepson since I had custody for the majority of the year and provided more support than his other parent. Just having that official confirmation from the IRS gave me peace of mind that I wasn't making a mistake on my return.

If you're still struggling with dependent questions, you might need to just call the IRS directly. I tried for WEEKS to get through to someone about my dependent situation (my stepson who lives with us part-time). I finally used this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting for hours. They have a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent was able to review my specific situation and confirm that I could claim my stepson since I had custody for the majority of the year and provided more support than his other parent. Just

Ok I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I was still stuck with my dependent question (my 23-year-old disabled daughter who lives with me but received some social security income), so I figured what the heck and tried it. It actually worked exactly like they said. I got a call back in about 20 minutes saying they had an IRS agent on the line. The agent confirmed that my daughter qualifies as a dependent regardless of her age because of her disability, and that her social security income doesn't count toward the support test. This was after I had tried calling the regular way 4 separate times and never getting through. So yeah, I was wrong. It's definitely worth it if you have a complicated tax situation and need an official answer.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if your child is on the borderline of qualifying, be careful about filing early. I claimed my 22-year-old son last year but then he filed his own return and claimed himself as independent without telling me. The IRS rejected my e-filed return and I had to file a paper return with documentation showing I provided most of his support. Huge headache that took months to resolve.

I just want to clarify something important about college students - the 5 month full-time requirement doesn't mean they need to be in school during the tax year for 5 months straight. It means they need to be enrolled full-time for what their school considers 5 months of the year (usually parts of 2 semesters). Also, make sure you're tracking ALL support - not just big items like tuition and housing. Things like health insurance, car insurance, cell phone plans, medical expenses, clothing, and food all count toward the support test. Parents often provide way more than they initially calculate.

This is such a helpful thread! I'm in a similar situation with my 20-year-old daughter who's in her sophomore year of college. She's full-time (taking 15 credits per semester) and I pay for her tuition, room and board, health insurance, and give her spending money. She works about 10 hours a week at the campus bookstore making maybe $3,000-4,000 per year. Based on what everyone's shared here, it sounds like I should be able to claim her as a dependent since she's under 24, is a full-time student, I provide way more than half her support, and she lives in the dorms (which counts as living with me). Her small income from the campus job shouldn't disqualify her from being my dependent, right? I'm planning to use some of the tools mentioned here like taxr.ai to double-check everything before I file. Thanks everyone for breaking down these confusing rules so clearly!

Great thread everyone! I've been dealing with similar confusion about my twin 20-year-olds. One is in college full-time and the other took a gap year to work full-time (making about $25k). I provide housing, food, insurance, and other support for both. From reading all your responses, it sounds like I can definitely claim my college student since she meets the under-24 full-time student rule. But I'm still unclear about my working son - he's under 19 so he should qualify as a qualifying child regardless of his income, right? Or does the fact that he's making $25k change things? Also want to echo what others said about coordination - I learned the hard way last year when one of them filed independently without telling me first. Had to sort out that mess with the IRS for months! Now we have a family meeting before tax season to make sure we're all on the same page about who's claiming what.

Just wanted to add something that might help with record keeping - I use a simple spreadsheet to track all the support I provide for my college kids throughout the year. I have columns for tuition payments, housing costs, insurance premiums, medical expenses, food/groceries, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses like clothing or textbooks. It's been super helpful when tax time comes around because I can quickly add everything up and see that I'm providing way more than 50% of their support. Plus if the IRS ever questions it, I have all the documentation organized in one place with dates and amounts. I also take photos of major receipts and store them in a cloud folder labeled with the tax year. Sounds like overkill but it saved me when I had to prove support for one of my kids a couple years ago. The IRS accepted my documentation without any issues. For anyone still confused about the rules after reading this thread, I'd definitely recommend trying one of those tax tools people mentioned or getting professional help. These dependency rules are tricky and the consequences of getting them wrong (like dual claims) can be a real headache to sort out later.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with a similar situation with my 22-year-old son who's in his senior year of college. He's taking 12 credits (full-time at his school), I pay his tuition and rent, and he works about 15 hours a week making around $8,000 annually. One thing I wanted to add that I learned from my tax preparer last year - make sure you understand how the American Opportunity Tax Credit interacts with claiming your child as a dependent. You can only claim the education credit if you're also claiming them as a dependent. So even if the dependency exemption itself doesn't save you much in taxes, the education credits (up to $2,500 per student) can be substantial. Also, for those tracking support expenses, don't forget to include the fair market value of housing if your child lives at home with you. The IRS has guidelines for calculating this - it's usually based on what it would cost to rent a similar room in your area. This can significantly boost your support calculation if your child is living at home rent-free. Has anyone had experience with how this works when your child graduates mid-year? My son graduates in May, so I'm wondering if that affects his student status for the full tax year or just the months he was enrolled.

This has been such an informative discussion! As a tax professional, I wanted to add a few clarifications that might help others in similar situations. First, regarding the "5 months full-time student" rule - it's important to note that this refers to any 5 months during the tax year, and they don't have to be consecutive. So even if your child takes a semester off but was full-time for fall and spring semesters, they likely still meet this test. Second, I see some confusion about income limits. For qualifying children (under 24 and full-time students), there is NO income limit that disqualifies them from being your dependent. The $5,000 limit only applies to qualifying relatives. However, if your child's income is high enough that they're required to file their own return, make sure you coordinate so both of you don't claim the same person. One thing that hasn't been mentioned much is the "tie-breaker" rules when multiple people could potentially claim the same dependent. If parents are divorced or separated, there are specific rules about which parent gets to claim the child that go beyond just who provides more support. Also, keep in mind that some states have different rules than federal, so if you live in a state with income tax, double-check their dependency requirements as well. For anyone still unsure about their specific situation, I'd recommend consulting with a qualified tax professional rather than relying solely on online tools, especially for complex family situations.