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Joint Return Test You generally cannot claim a married person as a dependent if he or she files a joint return. Exception. You can claim an exemption for a person 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 estima­ ted tax paid. Example 1—child files joint return. You supported your 18­year­old daughter, and she lived with you all year while her husband was in the Armed Forces. He earned $25,000 for the year. The couple files a joint return. You cannot take an exemption for your daughter. Example 2—child files joint return only as claim for refund of withheld tax. Your 18­year­old son and his 17­year­old wife had $800 of wages from part­time jobs and no other income. Neither is required to file a tax return. They do not have a child. Taxes were taken out of their pay so they file a joint return only to get a refund of the withheld taxes. The exception to the joint return test applies, so you are not dis­ qualified from claiming an exemption for each of them just because they file a joint return. You can claim exemptions for each of them 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 son's pay or his wife's pay. However, they file a joint return to claim an American opportunity credit of $124 and get a refund of that amount. Because claiming the American opportunity credit is their reason for filing the return, they are not filing it only to get a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid. The exception to the joint return test does not apply, so you cannot claim an exemption for either of them. Citizen or Resident Test You generally cannot claim a person as a de­ pendent 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 ex­ ception for certain adopted children, as ex­ plained next. Exception for adopted child. If you are a U.S. citizen or U.S. national who has legally adopted a child who is not 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. 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. For­ eign students brought to this country under a qualified international education exchange pro­ gram and placed in American homes for a tem­ porary period generally are not U.S. residents and do not meet this test. You cannot claim an exemption for them. 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 Publication 526, Charitable Contributions. 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. nation­ als 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: 1. Relationship, 2. Age, 3. Residency, 4. Support, and 5. Joint return. These tests are explained next. If a child meets the five tests to be the qualifying child of more than one per- son, a special rule applies to deter- mine which person can actually treat the child as a qualifying child. See Special Rule for Qual­ ifying Child of More Than One Person, later. Relationship Test To meet this test, a child must be: Your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant (for example, your grand­ child) of any of them, or Your brother, sister, half brother, half sis­ ter, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descend­ ant (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. CAUTION ! Example. Your son turned 19 on Decem­ ber 10. Unless he was permanently and totally disabled or a student, he does not meet the age test because, at the end of the year, he was not under age 19. Child must be younger than you or your spouse. To be your qualifying child, a child who is not 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 does not have to be younger than both of you. Example 1—child not younger than you or your spouse. Your 23­year­old brother, who is a student and unmarried, lives with you and your spouse. He is not disabled. Both you and your spouse are 21 years old, and you file a joint return. Your brother is not your qualifying child because he is not 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 brother is younger than your spouse and you and your spouse are filing a joint return, your brother is your qualifying child, even though he is not 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: 1. A full­time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body at the school, or 2. A student taking a full­time, on­farm train­ ing course given by a school described in (1), or by a state, county, or local govern­ ment agency. The 5 calendar months do not have to be con­ secutive. Full-time student. A full­time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full­time attendance. School defined. A school can be an ele­ mentary school, junior or senior high school, college, university, or technical, trade, or me­ chanical school. However, an on­the­job train­ ing course, correspondence school, or school offering courses only through the Internet does not count as a school. Vocational high school students. Stu­ dents who work on “co­op” jobs in private indus­ try as a part of a school's regular course of classroom and practical training are considered full­time students. Permanently and totally disabled. Your child is permanently and totally disabled if both of the following apply. He or she cannot engage in any substan­ tial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition. Publication 501 (2014) Page 13