Can My Parents Claim Me as a Dependent After Age 18?

Who Qualifies as a Dependent?

Tax dependents generally fall into two camps: qualifying children and qualifying relatives. To better understand who qualifies as a dependent, here are the requirements.

All Dependents

All tax dependents must meet the following qualifications:

• They must be a U.S. citizen, resident alien or national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
• They can't be claimed as a dependent on more than one tax return, with rare exceptions.
• They can't claim a dependent on their own tax return.
• They can't claim a spouse as a dependent if they file jointly.
• They must be a qualifying child or qualifying relative, as defined below.

Qualifying Child

You qualify as your parent's dependent child if you meet these criteria:

• Relationship: You're their son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother or stepsister, or a descendant of any of these relatives.

• Age: You meet the following age requirements:

  • You're under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than the taxpayer (or their spouse if filing jointly), or
  • You're under age 24 at the end of the year, a student and younger than the taxpayer (or their spouse if filing jointly), or
  • You're any age and permanently and totally disabled
• Residence: You've lived with your parent(s) for more than half the year.
• Support: You have not provided more than half of your own financial support for the year.
• No joint filing: You aren't filing a joint return for the year (unless that joint return is filed only to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax paid).

Qualifying Relative

If you don't qualify as a dependent child, you may still be claimed as a qualifying relative. Here are the criteria:

1. Not a qualifying child: You are not claimed as a qualifying child by any taxpayer.
2. Relationship or residence: You are the taxpayer's child, stepchild, foster child or grandchild, or you live with the taxpayer all year as a member of their household.
3. Income: Your gross income for the year is less than $5,050.
4. Support: The taxpayer provides more than half of your total support for the year.

Pros and Cons of Being Claimed as a Dependent

Though parents stand to gain more from this arrangement than their children do, adult children may be happy to exchange a few tax benefits for continued support. Following are some of the pros and cons when parents claim their adult children as dependents.

Pros

The pros of claiming a dependent generally accrue to the taxpayer claiming the deduction—in this case, your parents. Although the tax exemption for dependents went away in 2018, there are still potential benefits to claiming an adult child as a dependent. Here are a few examples:

Cons

The primary cons of being claimed as a dependent belong to the dependent (also known as you). The drawbacks here aren't necessarily major, but are worth considering:

Learn more: What Can You Deduct on Your Taxes?

Do Dependents Have to File Taxes?

As a dependent, you may need to file taxes if your income exceeds IRS thresholds. Single dependents under age 65 (who are not blind) must file tax returns when their incomes reach these levels:

• Unearned income greater than $1,300
• Earned income greater than $14,600

• Gross income greater than the larger of:

  • $1,300, or
  • Earned income up to $14,150 plus $450

Learn more: How to File Taxes for the First Time

The Bottom Line

If you're financially dependent on your parents even after you turn 18, you may still qualify as a dependent on their tax returns. Claiming you as a dependent may save your parents money on their taxes, but it's important to stay up to date on tax policies and income limits related to claiming dependents as you go. IRS Publication 501 is updated yearly and contains all the details you need.

If working on taxes inspires you to get a better handle on your money, consider the Experian Smart Money^™ Digital Checking Account & Debit Card. It can help you build credit without debt by linking to Experian Boost^®ø, which gives you credit for eligible bill payments after three months of payments. You'll also pay no monthly fees^¶ and have access to more than 55,000 fee-free ATMs worldwide^**. See terms at experian.com/legal.