Tax law states that you can claim a dependent on your tax return only if that dependent is your qualifying child or your qualifying relative. For your dependent to qualify as a Qualifying Child, four main tests must be met. These tests are as follows:

1. The Relationship Test

For a child to be your Qualifying Child, that child must be related to you in one of the ways described below.

• The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, or a descendant of any of them. The child can also be your brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them. (Therefore, this includes a niece or nephew, but not a cousin.)
• The child can be an adopted child. An adopted child is always treated as your own child, and therefore qualifies under the relationship test. The term, adopted child includes a child who was lawfully placed with you for adoption.
• An eligible foster child also qualifies under the relationship test, and is a child who has been placed with you by an authorized placement agency, or by judgment, decree, or other order of any court or competent jurisdiction.

2. The Age Test

To meet the age test the following must apply:

• The child must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year, and must be younger than you (or your spouse, if filing a joint return).
• If the child is older than 19, he or she must be a full-time student, but must be under the age of 24 at the end of the tax year, and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing a joint return). To qualify, the child must be a student during some part of any five calendar months of the year.
• If the child is permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, the age test does not apply, and you will be able to claim the child as a dependent regardless of age.

3. The Residency Test

To satisfy the residency test, the general rule is that the child must have lived with you, sharing the same principal place of abode or home, for more than half of the year.

4. The Support Test

This is a simple test, which states that the child cannot have provided for more than half of his or her support for the year, if he or she is to be your qualifying child.

The primary objective of this article is to empower taxpayers to learn to do their own taxes. For more information on how to claim your exemptions, grab yourself a copy of “Doing Your Own Taxes is as Easy as 1, 2, 3,” on TaxConnections.com