Can I claim my 19 year old as a dependent for tax purposes in 2025?

Oh thank you so much! That makes a lot more sense. Just to double check - even though she turned 19 in November, her high school attendance from January-May still counts toward the 5 month requirement? I thought maybe because she was 18 during those months, they wouldn't count them after she turned 19. Also, regarding support - most of her income goes to her car, phone, and spending money. I pay for housing, food, health insurance, and her tuition. Does that mean I'm providing more than half her support?

Yes, the 5-month requirement applies to the calendar year regardless of when she turned 19. The age test looks at whether she was under 19 at the end of the year OR a full-time student under 24. Since she was a full-time student for 5 months during the calendar year, she passes the age test even though she turned 19 in November. For the support test, you need to calculate the total cost of her support (housing, food, education, clothing, medical, transportation, etc.) and determine if you provided more than 50% of that total. Based on what you described, with you covering housing, food, health insurance and tuition, it sounds like you're providing well over half her support, especially since housing and tuition are typically the largest expenses.

Does it actually connect you with a real tax person or is it just another automated system? I've tried those "AI tax helpers" before and they just spit out generic advice that I could find on Google anyway.

I'm curious - how detailed do you have to get with the information you provide? I'm always nervous about putting all my family's personal info into these online systems. Does it need their SSNs and all that?

It connects you with their system that's specifically built for tax scenarios, not just a generic chatbot. What makes it different is it understands the context of tax regulations and applies them to your specific situation. It's much more advanced than those basic "helpers" that just search FAQs. You don't need to provide SSNs or highly sensitive data. You just enter the specific scenario details (ages, student status, income, living situation, etc.) and it analyzes which dependent tests apply and how they affect your filing status. It's designed to protect your privacy while still giving personalized guidance. I was comfortable with the level of information it needed.

How does that actually work though? I thought the IRS phone lines were basically impossible to get through on. Is this service actually legit?

Sorry but this sounds super sketchy. You're telling me some random service can magically get through IRS phone lines when millions of people can't? And then they just hand you off to an agent? Yeah right. If it was that easy everyone would be doing it.

It uses an automated system that continuously redials and navigates the phone tree options until it gets through. Their system knows which options to select and when to call for the best chances of getting through. Once they reach a human IRS agent, they call you and connect you directly to that agent. You're not talking to them - they're just getting you past the hold times. The service is legitimate and has been featured in major news outlets. It's not "magic" - it's just technology handling the frustrating part of waiting on hold. Think of it like having a virtual assistant whose only job is to sit on hold with the IRS for you. Many tax professionals use similar services because their time is too valuable to spend hours waiting on hold.

Wait so those 5 months don't have to be consecutive? My son was in school Jan-Mar, took spring quarter off, then went back Sep-Dec. Does that still count as 5 months?

They don't need to be consecutive months! The IRS rule just says "during any part of 5 calendar months." So if your son was a full-time student in January, February, March, September, October, November, and December, that's 7 months total - well above the 5-month minimum requirement. The key is that he must be considered "full-time" according to the school's definition during those months. As long as the school considered him a full-time student during at least 5 months in the year, you meet this part of the test regardless of whether those months were consecutive or spread throughout the year.

To calculate support, you need to add up the total cost of your son's support for the entire year, then determine how much of that total you provided versus how much he provided himself. Support includes: housing (fair rental value of the space + utilities), food, clothing, medical expenses, education, transportation costs, recreation, and other necessities. For example, if the fair rental value of his room is $800/month, that's $9,600 for the year right there. Add food ($300/month = $3,600/year), health insurance ($4,000/year), car insurance ($1,500/year), tuition ($X), etc. If the total support is $30,000 and you provided $20,000 of that while he only put $10,000 of his income toward his own support (with the rest going to savings or discretionary spending), you've provided more than half. Money your son earned but didn't spend on his own support doesn't count against you.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense! I never thought about counting the rental value of his room - that definitely tips the scales in my favor for the support test. I think all together with rent value, utilities, food, both insurances, and his tuition, I'm providing well over $25k in support, so even if he spent every dollar of his income on himself (which he definitely doesn't), I'd still be over the 50% mark. This is really helpful because I was just counting direct expenses I paid for him, not thinking about the value of housing.

This is such great advice about getting documentation from the high school! I didn't even think about that but it makes total sense to have backup proof in case there are any questions later. The detail about specifying FULL-TIME vs just enrolled is really important too - I can see how the software might make assumptions that could mess up the whole calculation. One quick question - when you say she needs to check the box about someone else claiming her as a dependent, does that affect her refund at all? I'm worried that if she files saying someone can claim her but then for some reason I can't actually claim her, we'll both end up in trouble with the IRS.