Can 23yrs grad student (bday 12.2023) be claimed as dependent? She lived in MD for 8mo, moved to NJ for PHD in Aug. P's in KY, but Stu no KY $.

No.  The parents would not be able to claim her as a dependent because if she paid for everything the parents did not pay for then she would have paid over half of her own support which excludes her from being claimed as a dependent.

The following criteria must be met to claim someone as a qualifying child:

• Your child (including adopted and foster children), your sibling, or a descendent of any of them.
• Age 18 or younger at the end of the tax year OR under 24 (and younger than you and your spouse) if they are a full-time student
• Lived with you for more than 6 months during the tax year
• They did not provide more than half of their own support
• They did not file a joint return, unless it was to claim a refund

To claim someone as a Qualifying Relative, they must be:

• Your child ( including step children, adoptive children and foster children) or a descendent of them
• Your sibling (including half siblings) or a child of your sibling or a sibling-in-law
• Your parent or grandparents, including step parents and in laws
• Any other person that lived with you for the entire tax year
• Not a qualifying child of another taxpayer
• Someone that you provided over half of their support for during the tax year
• Has less than $4,700 in income (not counting social security)

you can claim her as a qualifying child if all these tests are met

• Must be a US citizen, resident alien or national or a resident of Canada or Mexico
• Related to you - son. daughter. stepchild, eligible foster child, or a descendent of my of them; brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, stepsister or a descendent of any of them. Adopted child if legally adopted or an individual lawfully placed with the taxpayer for legal adoption. Eligible foster child is one placed with the taxpayer by an authorized placement agency or by judgment decree or order of any court with jurisdiction.
• Must be either: a) under 19 at the end of the year and younger than the taxpayer claiming or b) under 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student. A full-time student is one who is enrolled full-time in school (but not online or correspondence schools) during any part of 5 calendar months during the calendar year or took a full-time course of institutional on-farm training under the supervision of an accredited agency.
• Same principal abode as you for more than ½ the tax year. Temporary absences are ignored.
• Hasn’t provided over ½ their own support. Taxable or nontaxable scholarship payments are ignored in determining support.
• Hasn’t filed a joint return – unless there is no tax liability.
• If a qualifying child of more than one person there are tie-breaker rules

or she could be a qualifying relative if all these tests are met:

Qualifying Relative and eligible to be claimed as a dependent the rules are:

• lived in your household the entire year (temporary absences are ignored) or be related by blood or marriage.
• gross income for 2023 less than $4,700.
• you provide over ½ their support.
• isn’t a qualifying child of another taxpayer.
• you can’t be claimed as a dependent.
• the person must be unmarried or if married must not file a joint return unless they are only filing to claim a refund. Also, there must be no tax liability for either the dependent or the dependent’s spouse if they would have filed separate returns.
• a US citizen, resident alien or national or a resident of Canada or Mexico