If your child is younger than 19 at the end of the year (younger than 24 if a full-time student) and receives at least half of his or her support from you, then the child is a dependent. You can still claim your child as a dependent regardless of age if he or she has less than $3,200 of gross income and you are providing support. In considering whether you provide half of your child's support, factor in the "free rent" he or she receives from you if still living at home. http://www.webtaxcenter.com/child.jsp So, apparently if your 12 year old is bringing in eleventy million a year you can still claim the kid as a dependant. If your 55 yr old dead beat son still lives with you and makes $3199 from selling beer cans you're still in luck. If your 20 year old makes $3201 you're out of luck. Note that 'full time student' deal, a good reason for your child to enroll at the local 'Comuniy College.' You can also claim deductions if your child of any age qualifies under specific situations, mostly health related, like needing adult day care or in home care and such. Your parents and some other relatives can also be claimed under those kinds of situations. If I had a beer guzzlin' bum livin' in my basement, I dunno if I would even wanta claim it as an offshoot of my loins, even for a deduction, since it already deducted from my self esteem and quality of life.

The rule is that your child must be under age 19 or under 24 and a full time student to claim as a dependent at the end of the year. As your child, there is no income support test ("cannot make more than $X,XXX") - the rule is that "The child must not have provided more than half of his or her support for the year." The reason there is confusion about 17-18 may be because of the child credit. The child credit (currently $1000/qualifying child) can be taken through a child's 16th birthday. In the year the child turns 17, the child tax credit cannot be taken. So if your child turned 17 this year, you cannot take the child tax credit for her but you can claim her as a dependent. You can claim her as a dependent also for the tax year that she is 18 at the end of the year. After that, she must be a full-time student for you to be able to claim her. The income support test kicks in only for the "qualifying relative test." If the dependent in question is not your qualifying child but meets certain criteria, then that person must not have made more than $3400 for the year. This is not the case here.

Ask the IRS. They are the ones who decide in the end who gets screwed