Can I file as independent or am I still a Qualifying Relative for 2025 taxes?

I moved out of my parents' house this January and I'm really confused about my tax situation. I'm 26 years old, so I know I'm not a Qualifying Child dependent, but I'm not sure if I qualify as a Qualifying Relative or if I can file independently for 2025. For most of 2024, I lived with my parents and made less than $5,800 in gross income (worked part-time at a local café). Now that I've moved out, I'm wondering if my parents still have the option to claim me as a Qualifying Relative on their 2024 taxes, or if I can file my own return. The main reason I want to file independently is to receive any potential stimulus payments directly. My financial situation is pretty tight right now - I'm paying rent for the first time and trying to get established on my own. Does anyone know if this is my choice to make, or do my parents get to decide whether they claim me as a Qualifying Relative? And if they don't claim me, can I file a tax return even with my low income to potentially get stimulus money? This whole situation is new to me, and I can't find clear answers online for my specific circumstances.

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18 comments

AstroAce

•8M

The Qualifying Relative test looks at the entire tax year (2024), not just your current situation in 2025. Since you lived with your parents for most of 2024, made less than the gross income limit for a Qualifying Relative, and they presumably provided more than half your support during that time, they technically CAN claim you as a dependent for the 2024 tax year (filed in 2025). However, this isn't just their choice - it's based on whether you actually meet the requirements. If you do meet them (which sounds like you might), then you should coordinate with your parents. If they claim you as a dependent, you cannot claim yourself as independent on your own return - that would create a mismatch that could trigger IRS notices. If you want to receive stimulus payments directly, you'll need to file your own return and not be claimed as a dependent. But this requires your parents to agree not to claim you, even if you technically qualify as their dependent.

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AstroAce

•8M

If both you and your parents claim you (you as independent, them claiming you as a dependent), the IRS systems will flag this contradiction. This typically results in both returns being processed initially, but you'll both receive notices later requesting clarification. If a stimulus payment is involved and there's a dependency conflict, it could delay or prevent your stimulus payment. The IRS would likely hold the stimulus payment until the dependency issue is resolved. They generally won't just automatically reject your return, but they'll put any refunds or stimulus payments on hold until the discrepancy is sorted out.

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Diego Rojas

•8M

After struggling with a similar dependency situation last year, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which was super helpful for figuring out my exact status. I uploaded my income documents and answered a few questions about my living situation, and it clearly showed I qualified as a Qualifying Relative despite living on my own for part of the year. The system walked me through the exact support test calculations and showed how the IRS would view my situation. What I really appreciated was how it explained the distinction between being eligible to be claimed vs. actually being claimed - turns out these are different things! My parents and I were able to make an informed decision that worked best for our overall family tax situation.

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Diego Rojas

•8M

The IRS doesn't automatically know if you're eligible to be claimed but aren't. They only know what's reported to them. If you and your parents agree they won't claim you (even if they could), there's no automatic flag in the system. The issue only arises if both parties claim you. Regarding accuracy, I was skeptical too at first! But it's actually powered by the same tax logic used by professionals. The difference is it's more accessible and affordable. For edge cases like mid-year moves, it has specific question sequences that drill down into those situations. I had a weird situation with partial-year support and it handled it perfectly. I did verify with a tax professional later and they confirmed the results were accurate.

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Sean O'Donnell

•8M

Ok so I tried taxr.ai after commenting here and I'm actually impressed. My situation is similar to yours - I moved out in February and was wondering about my dependent status. The analysis was really thorough and explained that since my parents provided over half my total support for the year (including the value of housing for those months I lived with them), I qualified as a dependent Qualifying Relative. But the cool part was how it showed me the tax impact for both scenarios - if my parents claimed me vs. if they didn't. Since my parents are in a higher tax bracket, it made more financial sense for them to claim me and then just give me some of their tax savings directly (more than I would have received filing independently). We wouldn't have figured this out without seeing the actual numbers side by side.

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Zara Ahmed

•8M

If you're having trouble getting clarity on your Qualifying Relative status, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I had a similar dependency question last year that wasn't straightforward, and after weeks of trying to get through to the IRS (busy signals, disconnections, hours on hold), I used Claimyr and got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent was able to walk me through the exact Qualifying Relative test requirements and told me how to document my support calculations in case of questions later. Saved me tons of stress since I was getting different answers from online forums and tax software.

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Zara Ahmed

•8M

Claimyr uses an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When they reach a live agent, you get a call connecting you directly to that agent. It's completely legitimate - they're just using technology to do the waiting for you. It's not a "magic fix" for the IRS phone system - they're waiting in the same queue as everyone else, but their system is doing it instead of you having to sit by your phone for hours. What makes it valuable is you don't have to waste your own time listening to hold music. I was skeptical too until I tried it and got connected in about 20 minutes when I had previously spent over 3 hours trying myself.

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Luca Esposito

•8M

I need to eat my words. After trying Claimyr yesterday (was desperate enough to try anything), I got connected to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes. I'd been trying for TWO WEEKS to get through on my own with no luck. The agent confirmed exactly what I needed to know about my Qualifying Relative status - turns out the support test is calculated for the entire year, and since I lived with my parents until October, they provided housing worth more than half my total support for the year. But the agent also explained that my parents could choose NOT to claim me if that would be better for our overall situation, and gave me the exact publication numbers to reference for documentation. Really didn't expect this to work but it saved me from probably making a mistake on my return. Sometimes you gotta admit when you're wrong!

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Nia Thompson

•8M

Just to add my 2 cents as someone who was in this exact situation a few years ago. The key thing to understand is that if you MEET the requirements to be claimed as a Qualifying Relative, you MUST check the box on your return that says someone CAN claim you. This is true even if they CHOOSE not to actually claim you. This messed me up because I thought since my parents weren't going to claim me, I could just file as independent. Got a notice from the IRS later saying I had filed incorrectly. Had to amend and lost some credits.

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Nia Thompson

•8M

That's a common misunderstanding. The tax form doesn't ask if someone WILL claim you; it asks if someone CAN claim you. If you meet all the tests to be a Qualifying Relative, you must check the box saying you can be claimed - regardless of whether your parents actually do claim you or not. This is why coordinating with your parents is so important. If they're not going to claim you even though they could, you still need to mark that you can be claimed as a dependent. This may affect your eligibility for certain credits even if they don't actually claim you.

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