23 yr old daughter as dependent?

March 31, 2017 6:20 AM

Can my 23 year old daughter be a dependent on my taxes?
posted by ebesan to Law & Government (6 answers total)

The IRS has an interactive questionnaire that should help you answer this question.
posted by muddgirl at 6:25 AM on March 31, 2017 [2 favorites]

In general, yes - there's not an age restriction. But it depends on how much support you provide for her.

The IRS has some kind of choose-your-own-adventure thing about this here.
posted by thelonius at 6:25 AM on March 31, 2017 [3 favorites]

It's generally a combination of providing more than 50% of her support AND that she did not earn income larger than the personal exemption amount. In 2016, that's $4,050. If she had income from jobs or investments of more than that, you can't claim her, no matter how much support you provided.

There are other criteria, as noted above, but these are the two that usually come into play for someone that old.
posted by jwt0001 at 7:45 AM on March 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

Unless her daughter is a student, in which case she could qualify as a dependent child, in which case the rules are different.
posted by muddgirl at 8:05 AM on March 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

Anecdata: After going through the interactive questionnaire linked above, my best friend is claiming me as a dependent on his taxes. I am not biologically related to him or anyone in his family. I am 39 years old.
posted by The Almighty Mommy Goddess at 11:50 AM on March 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

I've claimed my unemployed SO (we're not married and obviously otherwise unrelated) for a few years now (though I arrived at that conclusion while paying closer attention to what TurboTax listed as the qualifications). The linked questionnaire above is an excellent resource.
posted by Aleyn at 6:13 PM on March 31, 2017