Internal Revenue Service United States Department of the Treasury
Module 4: Dependents

Page 2 of 16

 

Qualifying Child

A qualifying child must have the following requirements:

  • To be your qualifying child, the child must be younger than you.
  • A child cannot be your qualifying child if he or she files a joint return, unless the return was filed only as a claim for refund.
  • If the parents of a child can claim the child as a qualifying child but no parent claims the child, no other person can claim the child as a qualifying child unless that person's AGI is higher than the highest AGI of any parent of the child.
  • Your child is a qualifying child for purposes of the child tax credit only if you can and do claim an exemption for him or her.

 

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