Adult dependent

No, your adult child should not say he is "exempt."   He should complete a W-4 for his employers.   If tax is withheld from his income, he can file a tax return at tax time to seek a refund.  If you can claim him as a dependent then he is required to say on his own return that someone else can claim him.

Firstly, if you adult son is unmarried :

Regarding the requirements for claiming full-time college student as your qualifying child for EIC purposes, the student must be:

• Less than 24 years of age and be a full-time student for five months during the year (also, your dependent college-student child must be younger than you or your spouse if married filing jointly)
• Your son, daughter, stepson, stepdaughter, or eligible foster child; your brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, or half sister; a descendent of one of those listed above
• A U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or U.S. resident
  
  In addition:
• NOT file a joint return, unless that return is only to claim a refund
• Have a valid Social Security number (SSN)
• NOT have any other person claiming college student on their taxes for the EIC.

If your adult son is NOT a full time college student, then you may claim him/her as a qualifying relative.

Your relative can't have a gross income of more than $4,700 in 2023 and be claimed by you as a dependent. This threshold increases to $5,050 for 2024. Certain income is excluded from this requirement such as all or part of Social Security benefits.

Lastly, if your adult son qualifies as a dependent on your tax return, he can still file his own taxes as a dependent to get a refund while you file your own taxes including your adult son as a dependent.

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