Qualifying Dependents

You can't claim any dependents if you, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.
You can't claim a married person who files a joint return as a dependent unless that joint return is filed only to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax paid.
You 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.
You can't claim a person as a dependent unless that person is your qualifying child or qualifying relative.

Who is a Qualifying Child for Tax Purposes?

The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.

(1) The child must be:

(a) under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly),

(b) under age 24 at the end of the year, a student, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), or

(2) The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year.

(3) The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

(4) The child must not be filing a joint return for the year (unless that joint return is filed only to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax paid).

(5) If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, generally only one person can actually treat the child as a qualifying child. See Qualifying Child of More Than One Person, later, to find out which person is the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.

Who is a Qualifying Relative for Tax Purposes?

(1) The person can't be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer.

(2) The person either:

(a) must be related to you in one of the ways listed under Relatives who don't have to live with you, or

(b) must live with you all year as a member of your household (and your relationship must not violate local law).

(3) The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,300.

(4) You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.

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.

Test 1: 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.

Test 2: Joint Return Test

You generally can't claim a married person as a dependent if he or she files a joint return. However there is one exception. You can claim a person as a dependent who files a joint return if that person and his or her spouse file the joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid.

Test 3: 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 usually are 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 his or her 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.

Can you Claim Housekeepers, maids, or servants.

If these people work for you, you can't claim them as dependents.

This is a General guide for dependents. For a detailed list of exceptions, kindly refer to IRS Publication 17.

The IRS website also provides a tool to determine who you may claim as a dependent: Link