Qualifying Child Dependents

Most qualifying dependents are qualifying children of taxpayers. To claim a dependent as a qualifying child dependent, the taxpayer must not be a dependent himself or herself. The dependent in question can only be a qualifying child dependent if he or she does not file a joint return if married unless the return is only for tax credits or refunds and he or she is a US citizen, US national, US resident alien or resident of Canada or Mexico for some part of the tax year.

A dependent chid that passes all of the above tests can be a qualifying child dependent if he or she also passes the qualifying child dependent tests below.

    NO

YES

    NO

YES

    NO

YES

   YES

NO

   NO See also the Tie Breaker Rule

 YES