Question

Has turbo tax given me a credit I don't deserve? My son's income exceeds the limit for Credit for other dependents.

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 3, 2019
1 reply
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Our son earned more than the limit given to qualify us for the credit for other dependents. Yet turbo tax is giving us this credit. I tried to override but got an error message.

TurboTax Home & Biz Windows

J

JulieCo

Employee

For the Other Dependent Credit, if your son meets the requirements for a qualifying child, then his income does not matter, and you are eligible for the credit:

Qualifying child

They are your biological child, stepchild, adopted child, eligible foster child, sibling or half-sibling, step sibling, or an offspring of any of these;
They haven’t already been claimed for the Child Tax Credit or Credit for Other Dependents, either by you or by anyone else;
They are a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, Canadian resident, or Mexican resident;
They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse;
They are under the age of 19 (24 for full-time students; no age limit for permanently and totally disabled children);

They live with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply if in college, etc); and
They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

A Qualifying Relative does need to meet the income limit of $4,050. See the requirements below:

Despite the name, a qualifying relative doesn’t have to be related to you. However, a nonrelative must have lived with you for the entire year.

On the other hand, a true relative isn’t required to live with you the entire year, as long as they are your:

Biological child, stepchild, adopted child, foster child, sibling, half-sibling, stepsibling, or an offspring of any of these; or

Biologically-related direct ancestor (parent, grandparent, etc.), stepparent, aunt, uncle, son- or daughter-in-law, father- or mother-in-law, brother- or sister-in-law.

Related or not, the person you’re claiming as a qualified relative must also fit these criteria:

They haven’t already been claimed for the Child Tax Credit or Credit for Other Dependents, either by you or by anyone else;

They are a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, Canadian resident, or Mexican resident;

They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse;

They either lived with you for the entire year or are related to you;

They have less than $4,150 gross income in 2018 (nontaxable Social Security doesn't count); and

You provided more than half of their financial support. More info

The credit is $500 per qualifying dependent as long as the adjusted gross income (AGI) doesn’t exceed $200,000 ($400,000 if filing jointly). The credit goes down $50 for every $1,000 that the AGI exceeds the $200,000/$400,000 limit.