According to the United States Census Bureau, 58% of adults ages 18 to 24 lived with their parents in 2021. With the continued increase in young adults remaining in their parental homes over the past two years, you may be wondering which members of your household qualify as dependents this tax year.

A dependent is a person for whom you provide at least 50.01% of total living costs such as food, shelter, and clothing. Usually, a dependent is a qualified relative although it is possible to claim a non-relative as a dependent if they have lived with you for the entire year.

In addition to requiring that you paid over 50% of living costs for the person being claimed as a dependent, there are several other requirements for people you plan to claim as dependents. These requirements include:

• The person can’t be a qualifying dependent of another person. Two separate tax filers may not claim the same person as a dependent
• They cannot file a joint return with someone else, unless that return was filed by them and their spouse for the sole purpose of claiming a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax payments
• They must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national or a resident of Canada or Mexico
• They must have a taxpayer identification number. This is usually a Social Security Number, but it may also be an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) or an Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number (ATIN)

Your dependents will fall into one of two categories, a qualifying child or qualifying relative, both of which come with more requirements to qualify as your dependent.

To claim a child as your dependent, the child must meet all the following in addition to the basic dependent requirements:

• The child is a part of your family. They are a son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, sibling, stepsibling, half sibling, or descendent of one of these people
• Age Limit:
• The child was under age 19 as of the year end and is younger than you
• The child was under age 24 at year end, was a full-time student for at least 5 months of the year, and is younger that you
• The child is older than the above age limits but is permanently disabled as determined by a doctor
• The child must have lived with you for over half of the tax year. There are exceptions for cases such as the child living at college, hospital stays, birth, death, and other special circumstances

To claim a qualifying relative, the person must meet all the following in addition to the basic dependent requirements:

• The person must be related to you, or they must live with you all year.
• Their gross income must be below the limit ($4,300 for the 2021 tax year)

With all the above criteria met, you can go ahead and claim a person as your dependent. Given the upheaval of the past two years, many are facing rapid changes to the makeup of their households, so make sure you are accounting for all of the people you support correctly on your tax return. To help simplify making that determination, the IRS has a useful tool to see whom you may claim as a dependent. Reach out to a trusted tax advisor to discuss your specific circumstances and ensure that you are properly accounting for your dependents.