As any tax lawyer will tell you, there is no age limit for claiming an exemption on your tax return for your child, whom you support. However, the rules for taking the exemption changes as a child gets older.
When a child is under the age of 19 at the end of the year she is considered a qualifying child under the tax law. This age limit rises to 24, if she is a full time student. If a child is over the age limits she will no longer be a qualifying child and must meet the definition of a qualifying relative for the parent to claim the exemption.
The difference is that a parent may take the deduction for a qualifying child as long as the taxpayer provides more than half the child’s support. For a taxpayer to claim a qualifying relative however, there is an additional requirement that the child’s own income is less than the amount of the personal exemption ($3,700.00 for 2011; $3,800.00 for 2012).
Example: Joe College is a 23 year old full time university student with a double major in nuclear physics and basket weaving. He makes $5,000.00 a year from a part time job plucking chickens. His father, Tom Trusting, contributes $7,000.00 a year toward the young man’s support, and claims an exemption for Joe on his annual tax return. Next year however Joe will be too old to be a qualifying child, and since he earns more than $3,800.00 his father will no longer enjoy the tax break.
