Can a 19 year old be claimed as a dependent if they're not a student and have no job?
So I've got a situation with my brother who just turned 19 last month. He's not in school anymore (dropped out of community college after one semester) and currently isn't working anywhere. He lives with my parents and they pay for everything - food, housing, his phone bill, everything. I'm helping my parents with their taxes this year and I'm confused about whether they can still claim him as a dependent. The IRS website has all these tests about qualifying children vs qualifying relatives and I honestly can't figure out which category he falls into or if he even qualifies at all. He's over 18 so not automatically a qualifying child, but not in school... but also has $0 income for the year. Does that mean my parents can still claim him since they're supporting him 100%? Would really appreciate any guidance since I don't want my parents to file incorrectly.
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Grace Durand
Your brother can likely be claimed as a "qualifying relative" dependent rather than a "qualifying child" dependent. For qualifying relatives, the key tests are: 1) Your brother doesn't need to be a student if claimed as a qualifying relative 2) His gross income must be less than $4,450 (for 2025 taxes) 3) Your parents must provide more than half his total support 4) He must have lived with your parents all year (with some exceptions) Since he has zero income and your parents provide 100% of his support, he would meet these requirements. The age limit that applies to "qualifying children" doesn't matter for qualifying relatives. Just make sure he doesn't file a joint return with someone else, as that would disqualify him.
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Steven Adams
•What about if my brother does odd jobs for cash sometimes but it's way less than $4,450? Does that still count as qualifying relative? And does he need to file his own taxes for that little bit of money?
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Grace Durand
•If your brother earns less than $4,450 for the year, he can still qualify as a dependent under the qualifying relative rules. That income threshold is specifically designed for this purpose. Regarding whether he needs to file his own return, it depends on how much he actually earns and what type of income it is. For earned income (like odd jobs), he'd only be required to file if he makes more than $12,950 (standard deduction for 2025). However, if he's self-employed and nets more than $400 from those odd jobs, he would need to file to report self-employment tax, even though he wouldn't owe income tax.
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Alice Fleming
I went through this EXACT situation with my sister last year. It was so confusing trying to figure out the dependency rules! I used this site called https://taxr.ai where you just upload your documents or describe your situation and it tells you exactly what to do. I uploaded our financial info and explained that my sister was 19, not a student, had no income, and lived with my parents, and the AI immediately clarified that she qualified as a "qualifying relative" dependent. It walked me through all the tests and showed which forms my parents needed. Saved me so much time compared to reading through all the IRS jargon!
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Hassan Khoury
•Can this taxr.ai thing handle more complicated situations? I've got a similar issue but my son lived with me for 7 months and with his dad for 5 months, and we're trying to figure out who can claim him.
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Victoria Stark
•I'm a little hesitant to use AI for tax stuff. How accurate is it really? Does it actually know all the tax laws or is it just guessing? No offense but taxes are too important to mess up.
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Alice Fleming
•For split custody situations, it absolutely can help! The tool analyzed my cousin's situation where his daughter split time between parents, and it explained exactly how the residency test works (the "more than half the year" rule) and helped determine who had the right to claim her. It even created a documentation checklist for potential audit protection. Regarding accuracy, I was skeptical too, but it's specifically trained on tax regulations and updates with new tax laws. It's not making guesses - it references specific IRS publications and code sections when explaining its answers. I double-checked some of its advice with the IRS website and it was spot-on. It's definitely not just generic AI spitting out approximations.
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Hassan Khoury
Just wanted to follow up - I decided to try https://taxr.ai for my situation with my son's split custody arrangement. Wow, it was actually super helpful! It asked me specific questions about how many nights he spent with each parent, who provided financial support, and even about the written agreements between me and his dad. The tool walked me through the "tiebreaker rules" that determine which parent gets to claim the dependent when the child lives with both during the year. Turns out since my son was with me for 7 months, I meet the residency test and can claim him as long as I provided more than half his support. It even generated a document explaining exactly why I qualify that I can keep for my records in case of an audit. Definitely recommend!
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Benjamin Kim
If you're having trouble reaching the IRS to get a definitive answer on dependency questions (which I know I did - kept getting the "high call volume" message for WEEKS), you might want to try https://claimyr.com. They have this service that gets you through to an actual IRS agent, usually within 15 minutes. You can check out how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was totally stuck on a similar dependent question with my 20-year-old cousin who lives with us, and I needed to speak to someone who could give me an official answer. Claimyr got me through to an IRS rep who confirmed exactly which tests applied to our situation. Saved me from making a mistake on our return!
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Samantha Howard
•How does this actually work? Like how can they get you through when the IRS phone lines are always busy? Seems kinda suspicious.
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Victoria Stark
•Yeah right. Nothing gets you through to the IRS faster. I've been trying for 3 months to talk to someone about my amended return. This sounds like snake oil - no way it actually works.
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Benjamin Kim
•It works by using an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When an actual agent picks up, you get a call connecting you to them. The technology basically does the waiting for you so you don't have to stay on hold for hours. I was extremely skeptical too! I had spent literal hours trying to get through myself. But I was desperate because I needed clarification before filing. Think about it this way - they're not claiming to have a "special relationship" with the IRS or anything shady, they're just using technology to handle the hold time for you. The service literally calls the same public IRS number that you would call yourself.
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Victoria Stark
Ok I need to apologize and eat my words. After my skeptical comment I actually tried https://claimyr.com out of desperation (was on deadline to file). I figured what the hell, nothing else was working. I got connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes! The agent walked me through the exact qualifying relative tests for my niece who lives with me (similar to OP's situation but she's 20). Turns out I CAN claim her as a dependent even though she's not in school because: 1) Her income was under the threshold 2) I provided over half her support 3) She lived with me all year I would have messed this up without talking to them. So yeah, sorry for being such a doubter before. Sometimes things actually do work like they say!
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Megan D'Acosta
Am I the only one who thinks it's crazy that the "qualifying child" and "qualifying relative" tests are so complicated? Like seriously, why does the IRS make this so confusing with different rules for students vs non-students and all these different age cutoffs? I spent HOURS trying to figure out if my stepson qualified last year. The test should just be "do you financially support this person?" Done.
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Sarah Ali
•Preach! And it gets even more complicated with divorced parents or for people taking care of elderly parents who don't live with them. The qualifying relative vs qualifying child distinction makes me want to pull my hair out every year.
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Megan D'Acosta
•I know right! The worst part is when you're dealing with blended families. My stepson splits time between our house and his mom's, and figuring out who can claim him is like solving a logic puzzle with incomplete information. And the consequences for getting it wrong can be huge - rejected returns, delayed refunds, or even audits. The IRS seriously needs to simplify this whole system.
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Ryan Vasquez
Can I just double check - the person who is 19 can still file their own return even if they're claimed as a dependent by their parents, right? They would just check the "can be claimed as a dependent" box?
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Grace Durand
•Yes, that's correct! Being claimed as a dependent doesn't prevent someone from filing their own return if they need to. They would simply check the box on their return indicating they can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return. This often happens when a dependent has some income (even below the threshold for qualifying relative status) and wants to get a refund of taxes withheld. Just make sure they check that box so the IRS doesn't get confused by seeing the same person claimed as a dependent on one return while not indicating dependent status on their own return.
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Luca Bianchi
Just want to add another perspective here - I work as a tax preparer and see this situation all the time. Your brother definitely sounds like he qualifies as a qualifying relative dependent based on what you've described. One thing I always tell clients is to keep good records of the support you're providing. Since your parents are paying for housing, food, phone bill, etc., I'd recommend they keep receipts or bank statements showing these expenses. If the IRS ever questions the dependency claim, you'll want documentation that proves they provided more than half of his support for the year. Also, even though he's not working now, if your brother does get a job later in the year, just make sure his total gross income stays under $4,450 to maintain his qualifying relative status. If he goes over that threshold, your parents won't be able to claim him as a dependent for 2025.
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Maggie Martinez
•This is really helpful advice about keeping records! I never thought about documenting all the support expenses. Quick question though - what exactly counts as "support"? Like if my parents are paying for his car insurance or buying him clothes, does that all factor into the "more than half support" calculation? And is there a specific way to calculate what constitutes "more than half" - like do we need to add up every single expense?
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