What are the requirements for claiming an individual as a dependent?

To claim a person as a dependent they must be either your qualifying child or qualifying relative. In order to claim a dependent, the taxpayer nor spouse can be claimed as a dependent on anyone else's return; and a person cannot be a dependent on a return if the person files a return as married filing jointly on their own return; and, for a person to be claimed as a dependent they must be a U.S. Citizen, U.S. National, or a resident of the United States, Canada, or Mexico.

Also, to be a qualifying child the person must meet the following four tests:

1) Relationship Test-The person must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendent of any of these, like your grandchild, niece, or nephew. You must be able to prove the relationship with birth certificates.

2) Member of Household Test-The child must have lived with the taxpayer for more than half of the tax year. You need to be able to prove this to the IRS with Utility Bills, School Records, Medical Records, Daycare Expenses, Social Services Records, etc.

3) Age Test-The child must be under the age 19 at the end of the tax year and younger than the taxpayer, or under age 24 if they were a full-time student for 5 months of the tax year and younger than the taxpayer and spouse.

4) Support Test-The child cannot have provided over half of his/her own support during the tax year. You also must be ready to prove this if requested by the IRS through records and expenses.

For a qualifying relative you must meet the following 4 tests which are a little different:

1) Relationship Test-A relative of the taxpayer must be a son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, or descendent of any of these; or a brother, sister, niece, or nephew of the taxpayer; or a father, mother, or grandparent of the taxpayer; or a stepbrother, stepsister, stepfather, stepmother, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law; or any other person (other than the taxpayers spouse) who lived with the taxpayer all year as a member of the taxpayer's household.

2) Not a Qualifying Child Test-The relative must not be a qualifying child of any other person for the tax year. For this test, the person also is not a taxpayer is the person is not required to file a tax return or does not file a tax return or files a tax return only to get a refund of withheld taxes.

3) Gross Income Test-The relative must have a gross income of less than $3900 for the tax year (amount may be adjusted).

4) Support Test-The taxpayer must have provided over half the relative's support for the tax year.