Should I claim my working teenager as a dependent on my taxes?

Yes, you can most likely still claim your daughter as a dependent! The income test only applies to "qualifying relatives" - not to "qualifying children." Since your daughter is under 19 and lives with you (and you provide more than half her support), she meets the tests for a qualifying child dependent. The four tests for claiming a qualifying child are: relationship (your daughter passes), age (under 19 or full-time student under 24, so she passes), residency (lives with you, so she passes), and support (you provide more than half, so she passes). Her income doesn't matter for qualifying child status! She can still file her own return to get any withholding refunded, but she'll need to check the box indicating someone else can claim her as a dependent.

After struggling with a similar dependent situation last year with my college-age son who works part-time, I discovered this amazing tool at https://taxr.ai that really clarified things for me. Their system analyzed my specific family situation and confirmed I could claim him despite his income. What's cool is that it walks you through all the IRS tests for dependents with simple yes/no questions, and explains which specific rules apply to your situation. It even caught that I qualified for the American Opportunity Credit because he was in college, which my regular tax prep software missed!

Just wanted to update - I tried the taxr.ai site that was mentioned here and it was super helpful! I entered our complicated custody situation details and it walked me through exactly which parent could claim our daughter (turns out it's me since she lives with me more than 50% of the time). It even created a customized report explaining the exact IRS rules that apply to our situation that I can show my ex. Saved me a potential audit headache and probably a huge argument too!

After spending HOURS trying to reach the IRS to get clarity on dependent claims for my working kids (seriously, I tried calling 9 times over 3 days), I finally used https://claimyr.com and got through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent confirmed that my 18 and 20 year old kids who work part-time jobs could both still be claimed as my dependents since they live at home and I provide over half their support. Turns out the income test doesn't apply to qualifying children, only to qualifying relatives! Just having someone official confirm it gave me so much peace of mind.

I need to eat some humble pie here. After posting my skeptical comment earlier, I decided to try the Claimyr service out of desperation because I had a complex dependent situation with my son who made $13k last year but still lives at home. I was convinced it wouldn't work, but no joke, I got connected to an IRS agent in about 22 minutes. The agent confirmed I could still claim my son AND that I qualified for the remaining portion of a Child Tax Credit I didn't think I was eligible for. That 22-minute call literally saved me $1,500 on my taxes. I've been trying to reach the IRS for weeks on my own with no success.

One thing nobody mentioned yet - make sure your daughter checks the box on her return that says "Someone can claim you as a dependent." If she doesn't check that box but you claim her on your return, it'll trigger a mismatch in the IRS system. My son and I learned this the hard way last year and both got letters from the IRS about it!

Just a heads up that the rules change once your kid turns 19 (or 24 if they're a full-time student). My son turned 19 last year and wasn't in college, worked part-time making about $14k, and I could NOT claim him even though he lived at home. Check the age requirements carefully!

Great question! I went through this exact same situation with my 16-year-old son last year. He worked at a grocery store and made about $7,500, but I was still able to claim him as a dependent because he's under 19 and I provide more than half his support. The key thing to remember is that for "qualifying children" (which your daughter is), there's NO income limit. The income test only applies to "qualifying relatives." Since your daughter is 17, lives with you, and you're providing her housing, food, and healthcare, she definitely qualifies as your dependent regardless of her $8,200 income. Just make sure when she files her return that she checks the box saying someone else can claim her as a dependent, and you should be all set! You'll still get your Child Tax Credit and any other dependent-related benefits.

I'm dealing with almost the exact same situation! My 17-year-old daughter worked at a retail store last summer and made around $6,800. I was so confused about the income limits until I read through all these responses - it's really helpful to understand that the income test doesn't apply to qualifying children under 19. One question I have though - if my daughter doesn't owe any taxes because her income is below the filing threshold, does she still need to file a return? I know she had federal taxes withheld from her paychecks, so I'm assuming she'd want to file to get that money back, but I want to make sure there's no downside to her filing when I'm also claiming her as a dependent.

I'm glad I found this thread! I'm in a similar situation with my 16-year-old who just started working at a local restaurant. Reading through all these responses has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea that the income test doesn't apply to qualifying children under 19. One thing I want to add for anyone else reading this: make sure you keep good records of what you're paying for your teenager throughout the year. I started tracking housing costs, food, medical expenses, school supplies, etc. to clearly document that I'm providing more than half of my son's support. It gives me peace of mind knowing I have the documentation if the IRS ever questions the dependent claim. Also, for parents whose teens are planning to file their own returns - I found it helpful to sit down with my son when he files to make sure he understands what checking that "someone can claim me as a dependent" box means. It's a good teaching moment about taxes and helps avoid any mistakes that could cause problems later!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm dealing with a similar situation with my 18-year-old who made about $9,500 working part-time at a bookstore while finishing high school. I was really worried about the income amount, but reading all these responses clarified that since she's under 19 and I provide more than half her support, the income doesn't disqualify her from being my dependent. One thing I learned from my tax preparer last year that might help others - if your teen had multiple jobs during the year, make sure to gather all their W-2 forms before they file. My daughter worked at two different places and we almost missed the second W-2 because it came later in the mail. Also, some teens get nervous about filing their first tax return, so I found it helpful to use one of the free filing software options and walk through it together. It made the whole process less intimidating for her and ensured we didn't make any mistakes with the dependent checkbox. Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences - it's really reassuring to know so many families navigate this successfully!