OLT TAX CORNER ~ Dependent

Taxpayers reduce their taxable income for each dependency exemption claimed. To claim a dependency exemption, all of the dependency tests must be met:

• Member of Household or Relationship Test
• Citizen or Resident Test
• Joint Return Test
• Gross Income Test
• Support Test

A taxpayer cannot claim a person as a dependent if the person can be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer's return.

1. Member of Household or Relationship Test: to meet this test, a person must either live with you for the entire year as a member of your household or be related to you.
2. Citizen or Resident Test: to meet this test, a person must be a citizen of the United States, resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
3. Joint Return Test: generally, you are not allowed to claim a person as a dependent if he or she files a joint return. However, you may claim a person who filed a joint return merely to claim a refund of tax. This exception applies if neither the person nor the person's spouse is required to file a return and no tax liability would have existed for either the person or the person's spouse if each had filed a separate return.
4. Gross Income Test: generally, you may not claim as a dependent a person who had gross income of $5,200 or more for 2025. Gross income is all income in the form of money, goods, property, or services that is not exempt from tax. There are two exceptions to the gross income test. If your child is under age 19 at the end of the year, or is a full–time student under the age of 24 at the end of the year, the gross income test does not apply.
5. Support Test: to claim someone as your dependent you generally must provide more than half of that person's total support during the year.

If no one else should have claimed them, you will have to paper file to dispute this. You can print your completed return and mail it to the IRS. If someone else should have claimed them, you will need to remove them as a dependent and resubmit.

Computers check the e-file record. Therefore, it is possible that someone made an error on his or her e-filed return to a SSN. Although they did not claim your child, that SSN has appeared in another e-file record. This may disqualify you from e-file.

Another example of when this occurs may be due to a previous e-file, where perhaps the other parent claimed them or the primary and secondary taxpayers were reversed, and the return was rejected due to an error. Because the child's' SSN was included on another return with a different primary SSN, it is disallowed for e-file.

When you mail in your return, the IRS will do one of two things. They will either process your claim as is or contact you for further documentation. They will not tell you whose return the child's' SSN was on. Although this can be very frustrating, please note that this is as much a measure for your protection as it is to prevent fraud.

If you file your return claiming your son as a dependent and do not provide his social security number on the return, the dependent exemption will be disallowed. You have three options. You could file your income tax return without claiming your son as a dependent. After you receive his social security number, you could then amend your return on Form 1040X (PDF), Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. You have three years from the later of the due date of the return or from the date the return was filed to amend the return. Your second option is to apply for a SSN through the Social Security Administration then file your return. This will take approximately 2 weeks. The third option is (if it is close to the deadline) to file a Form 4868 (PDF), Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return. This would give you an additional four months to file your return; by then you should have your son's social security number.

If you are not able to e-file your return and claim yourself because you were already claimed as a dependent on another return, and no one else should have claimed you, then you will need to mail in your return claiming yourself to dispute this. When the IRS receives your return, and sees that you've claimed an exemption for yourself, and also been claimed as a dependent on another return, then the IRS will contact both you and the taxpayer that claimed you. As long as you provide them with accurate documentation that no one else should have claimed you, and you have a right to claim yourself, they will deal with the situation accordingly and you will not be penalized.

**no exemptions** - No, you can't claim your husband or wife as a dependent

Two people cannot claim the same child as a dependent in the same tax year. The IRS allows one exemption per dependent per year.

There are 5 tests that must be met in order to decide if you can claim your parent as a dependent. First is the member of household or relationship test. Since your father is a relative, it is not required that he live with you. Second is the citizen or resident test. To meet this test, a person must be a citizen of the United States, resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico. The third test is joint return test. Generally, you are not allowed to claim a person as a dependent if he or she files a joint return. However, you may claim a person who filed a joint return merely to claim a refund of tax. This exception applies if neither the person nor the person's spouse is required to file a return and no tax liability would have existed for either the person or the person's spouse if each had filed a separate return. The fourth test is the gross income test. If your father did not have gross income over requirement ($5,050 in 2025 tax return) then he passes this test. The fifth and final test is the support test. You must have provided more than half of your father's total support for the year to pass this test. If you pass all five tests listed above, then you will be able to claim your father as a dependent on your tax return.