Artículo Housekeepers, maids, or servants.. Housekeepers, maids, or servants.

id="en_US_2025_publink1000170861"> Housekeepers, maids, or servants. If these people work for you, you can’t claim them as dependents. Child tax credit. You may be entitled to a child tax credit for each qualifying child who was under age 17 at the end of the year if you claimed that child as a dependent. For more information, see chapter 14 . Credit for other dependents. You may be entitled to a credit for other dependents for each qualifying child who does not qualify you for the child tax credit and for each qualifying relative. For more information, see chapter 14 . Exceptions Even if you have a qualifying child or qualifying relative, you can claim that person as a dependent only if these three tests are met. Dependent taxpayer test . Joint return test . Citizen or resident test . These three tests are explained in detail here. Dependent Taxpayer Test If you can be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer, you can’t claim anyone else as a dependent. Even if you have a qualifying child or qualifying relative, you can’t claim that person as a dependent. If you are filing a joint return and your spouse can be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer, you and your spouse can’t claim any dependents on your joint return. Exception. If you can be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer, you can claim someone else as a dependent if the person who can claim you (or your spouse if filing a joint return) as a dependent files a return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid. Joint Return Test You generally can’t claim a married person as a dependent if that person files a joint return. Exception. You can claim a person as a dependent who files a joint return if that person and that person’s spouse file the joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid. Example 1—Child files joint return. You supported your 18-year-old child who lived with you all year while your child’s spouse was in the Armed Forces. Your child’s spouse earned $35,000 for the year. The couple files a joint return. You can’t claim your child as a dependent. Example 2—Child files joint return only as claim for refund of withheld tax. Your 18-year-old child and your child’s 17-year-old spouse had $800 of wages from part-time jobs and no other income. They lived with you all year. Neither is required to file a tax return. They don’t have a child. Taxes were taken out of their pay, so they filed a joint return only to get a refund of the withheld taxes. The exception to the joint return test applies, so you aren't disqualified from claiming each of them as a dependent just because they file a joint return. You can claim each of them as a dependent if all the other tests to do so are met. Example 3—Child files joint return to claim American opportunity credit. The facts are the same as in Example 2 , except no taxes were taken out of your child’s pay or your child’s spouse’s pay. However, they file a joint return to claim an American opportunity credit of $124 and get a refund of that amount. Because they filed a joint return claiming the American opportunity credit, they aren't filing it only to get a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid. The exception to the joint return test doesn't apply, so you can’t claim either of them as a dependent. Citizen or Resident Test You generally can’t claim a person as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico. However, there is an exception for certain adopted children, as explained next. Exception for adopted child. If you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. national who has legally adopted a child who isn't a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, or U.S. national, this test is met if the child lived with you as a member of your household all year. This exception also applies if the child was lawfully placed with you for legal adoption and the child lived with you for the rest of the year after placement. Child's place of residence. Children are usually citizens or residents of the country of their parents. If you were a U.S. citizen when your child was born, the child may be a U.S. citizen and meet this test even if the other parent was a nonresident alien and the child was born in a foreign country. Foreign students' place of residence. Foreign students brought to this country under a qualified international education exchange program and placed in American homes for a temporary period generally aren't U.S. residents and don’t meet this test. You can’t claim them as dependents. However, if you provided a home for a foreign student, you may be able to take a charitable contribution deduction. See Expenses Paid for Student Living With You in Pub. 526. U.S. national. A U.S. national is an individual who, although not a U.S. citizen, owes their allegiance to the United States. U.S. nationals include American Samoans and Northern Mariana Islanders who chose to become U.S. nationals instead of U.S. citizens. Qualifying Child Five tests must be met for a child to be your qualifying child. The five tests are: Relationship , Age , Residency , Support , and Joint return . These tests are explained next. . If a child meets the five tests to be the qualifying child of more than one person, there are rules you must use to determine which person can actually treat the child as a qualifying child. See Qualifying Child of More Than One Person , later. . Relationship Test To meet this test, a child must be: Your son, daughter, stepchild, or foster child, or a descendant (for example, your grandchild) of any of them; or Your brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, or stepsister, or a descendant (for example, your niece or nephew) of any of them. Adopted child. An adopted child is always treated as your own child. The term “adopted child” includes a child who was lawfully placed with you for legal adoption. Foster child. A foster child is an individual who is placed with you by an authorized placement agency or by judgment, decree, or other order of any court of competent jurisdiction. Age Test To meet this test, a child must be: Under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly); A student under age 24 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly); or Permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, regardless of age. Example. Your child turned 19 on December 10. Unless this child was permanently and totally disabled or a student, this child doesn't meet the age test because, at the end of the year, this child wasn't under age 19. Child must be younger than you or spouse. To be your qualifying child, a child who isn't permanently and totally disabled must be younger than you. However, if you are married filing jointly, the child must be younger than you or your spouse but doesn't have to be younger than both of you. Example 1—Child not younger than you or spouse. Your 23-year-old sibling, who is a student and unmarried, lives with you and your spouse, who provide more than half of your sibling’s support. Your sibling isn't disabled. Both you and your spouse are 21 years old, and you file a joint return. Your sibling isn't your qualifying child because your sibling isn't younger than you or your spouse. Example 2—Child younger than your spouse but not younger than you. The facts are the same as in Example 1 , except your spouse is 25 years old. Because your sibling is younger than your spouse, and you and your spouse are filing a joint return, your sibling is your qualifying child, even though your sibling isn't younger than you. Student defined. To qualify as a student, your child must be, during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year: A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff and course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body at the school; or A student taking a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school described in (1), or by a state, county, or local government agency. The 5 calendar months don’t have to be consecutive. Full-time student. A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance. School defined. A school can be an elementary school; a junior or senior high school; a college; a university; or a technical, trade, or mechanical school. However, an on-the-job training course, correspondence school, or school offering courses only through the Internet doesn’t count as a school. Vocational high school students. Students who work on “co-op” jobs in private industry as a part of a school's regular course of classroom and practical training are considered full-time students. Permanently and totally disabled. Your child is permanently and totally disabled if both of the following apply. Your child can’t engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition. A doctor determines the condition has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year or can lead to death. Residency Test To meet this test, your child must have lived with you for more than half the year. There are exceptions for temporary absences, children who were born or died during the year, adopted or foster children, kidnapped children, and children of divorced or separated parents. Temporary absences. Your child is considered to have lived with you during periods of time when one of you, or both, is temporarily absent due to special circumstances such as: Illness, Education, Business, Vacation, Military service, or Detention in a juvenile facility. Death or birth of child. A child who was born or died during the year is treated as having lived with you more than half of the year if your home was the child's home more than half of the time the child was alive during the year. The same is true if the child lived with you more than ha