My Money Forum

He was in the shop 10 -12 hour a day for 6 months and unable to get a job. I supported him financially.

Only if he's enrolled full time at a school.

There are 2 ways to claim a dependent.

Qualifying child. Requires that he be under 24 have been in school for parts of 5 months during the year. An apprenticeship doesn't count towards those 5 months. He also has to live with you and can't have supporated himself. A Qualifying child would give you the exemption and make you eligible for HOH and EIC.

Qualifying relative. When he doesn't qualify as above, you look at these rules. His income has to be less than $3650 and you have to have paid for more than half of his total support. If he lives with you, he can make you eligible for HOH. You get the exemption, but you do NOT qualify for EIC.

You might be able to claim him for other reasons, but not because he was in the program.

If the support from you was over 1/2 of all his support (including whatever came from him) for the year and his income for the year was $0 or less than $3650, then you probably can claim him, but not because he was in the program.

If the program is through an academic institution that officially classifies him as a "full-time student", and he did not provide 1/2 or more of all his support for the year, then you probably can claim him.

If he is not officially a student and his income was at least $3650, then you cannot claim him.

If he provided at least 1/2 of his own support, then you cannot claim him.

If he didn't have gross income for the year of at least $3650, yes, as a qualifying relative.

he is your qualifying child until age 24 if he lives in your household 6 months, you provide more than 50% of his support and he is attending full time school 5 months of the year
his amount of income is no longer a test for dependency
if he were to earn more than his non taxable income he would pay taxes on that excess and you still claim him if he qualifies