Preface: \u201cMyth is the mountain whence all the different streams arise which become truths down here in the valley.\u201d <\/i>– C.S. Lewis<\/i><\/b><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
Claiming Dependents: Myths and Facts\u00a0<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n
Myth<\/b>: Once my kid turns 18 (or some other age), I can\u2019t claim him anymore.<\/p>\n
Fact<\/b>: You can only claim the full amount of child tax credit ($2,200 in 2025) for qualifying children who were under 17 at the end of the calendar year. However, you can still claim the lesser amount of $500 for qualifying children who were under 19.<\/p>\n
If your child was a full-time student, you can continue claiming him until the year he turns 24.<\/p>\n
If your child is permanently and totally disabled, there is no age limit. How do you know if your child qualifies as permanently and totally disabled? Ask a doctor.<\/p>\n
A child who meets the requirements of a qualifying relative can still be claimed as a dependent regardless of age. The credit for a qualifying relative is $500.<\/p>\n
Myth<\/b>: If you are married and are the primary earner, you can claim your spouse as a dependent.<\/p>\n
Fact<\/b>: If you are married at the end of the calendar year, you must choose between married filing jointly (MFJ) and married filing separately (MFS) for that year. The MFJ status offers lower tax rates and a higher standard deduction. That is a tax break available to married couples. You cannot claim your spouse as a dependent regardless of who earns the income.<\/p>\n
Myth<\/b>: If my child earned more than $5,000 (or some other amount), I can\u2019t claim him anymore.<\/p>\n
Fact<\/b>: There is no dollar threshold on the income of children who can be claimed as dependents. The support requirement for qualifying children says that a qualifying child must not have provided more than half of his own support. It doesn\u2019t even say that you must have provided more than half, just that the child can\u2019t have provided more than half. And it says nothing of any dollar limit.<\/p>\n
What you are probably thinking of is the gross income requirement that applies to qualifying relatives. This was $5,200 in 2025. There is no gross income requirement for qualifying children.<\/p>\n
Myth<\/b>: If my kid had a job and I am claiming him as a dependent, then I report his income on my tax return.<\/p>\n
Fact<\/b>: If your child earned enough to meet filing requirements, he must file his own return and pay his own tax. If he does not meet filing requirements, then his income is tax-free.<\/p>\n
If your child had withholding through his paycheck, he may want to file even when not required to in order to claim a refund.<\/p>\n
If you are claiming a child as a dependent and that child is filing a tax return, the child\u2019s return must check the box that says \u201cSomeone can claim you as a dependent\u201d. If the boxes are mismatched, processing of the returns may be delayed.<\/p>\n
In the event that your child had more than $2,700 in unearned income (bank interest, investment income, etc.), then the amount of unearned income above the limit will be taxed at your tax rate. This is known as the \u201ckiddie tax\u201d. It is intended to stop rich parents from avoiding tax by shifting their investments to their children.<\/p>\n
Myth<\/b>: If two people try to claim the same child in the same year, the one with court-ordered legal custody of the child gets the credit.<\/p>\n
Fact<\/b>: Assuming both parties to the dispute meet all requirements for claiming the child, the tie-breaker rules favor the claimant as follows:<\/p>\n Court-ordered custody doesn\u2019t enter into it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Preface: \u201cMyth is the mountain whence all the different streams arise which become truths down here in the valley.\u201d – C.S. Lewis Claiming Dependents: Myths and Facts\u00a0 Myth: Once my kid turns 18 (or some other age), I can\u2019t claim him anymore. Fact: You can only claim the full amount of child tax credit ($2,200 … Continue reading “Claiming Dependents: Myths and Facts\u00a0“<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2861"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2873,"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2861\/revisions\/2873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2861"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2861"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saudercpa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2861"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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