Kids are great! But they can be taxing…in more ways than one.
Growing up, my parents would always give me an increase on my allowance around April. They would say it was to teach me how to budget my money. Not to sell out my parents or anything but now I know that they were able to give me a little extra once a year because they were getting more back from the IRS after filing and claiming me as a dependent.
Let’s just say, those little bonuses stopped once I began filing my own taxes.
Is there a limit to how many dependents I can claim on my tax return?
No, there is no maximum amount of dependents you’re allowed to claim on your tax return. You can claim all dependents who are qualified child dependents according to IRS rules. Consider it a token of appreciation for supporting the ever-increasing costs of diapers, astronomical college tuition fees and for simply putting food on the table each night.
What qualifies a child as my dependent?
You may see this question to have a simple answer if you are married parents filing a joint return. However, for single parents, married parents who file separately or other relatives, the answer is not as clear.
A qualifying child dependent has slightly different requirements than a qualifying relative dependent does. In order to be considered a qualifying child dependent, they must meet all of the following requirements:
- The child must be a U.S. citizen, national, resident or a resident of Mexico or Canada.
- The child cannot be claimed by someone else or themselves if they are also taking the personal exemption.
- If the child is filing a tax return, they cannot be claiming a dependent.
- The child cannot be filing a joint tax return.
- The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, brother, sister, eligible foster child, half sibling, stepsibling, or adopted child. He/she can also qualify if they are an offspring of any of the above.
- The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year.
- The child must be under 19 years old. If the child is a full-time student, they must be under 24 years old. There is no age limit if the child is totally and permanently disabled.
- You must have provided more than half of the child’s annual financial support.
How much is each dependent child worth on my tax return?
Each child claimed as a dependent reduces your taxable income by $4,000. Contrary to popular belief, this does not mean that $4,000 will be added to your refund or directly deducted from your tax bill. It means that the income amount that you are being taxed on is reduced which ultimately reduces your tax bill (or increases your refund amount).
Although claiming a dependent or two on your tax return opens the door to qualifying for the Child Tax Credit, it does not guarantee it.
Can I claim the Child Tax Credit?
Claiming a dependent on your tax return reduces your taxable income while claiming the child tax credit reduces your tax due amount directly. A tax credit reduces your tax bill dollar-for-dollar and each child is worth up to $1,000. To read more about qualifying for the credit, check out our article all about it HERE!
When you create an account with Rapidtax, our application will automatically let you know if you qualify for the Child Tax Credit after entering in your income and dependent information.
Happy filing!
Have a question we have 6 kids could my husband and I claim all of them and will we get the full amount on them as a child depend
Hi Rachel,
You are able to claim as many dependents as are eligible. Keep in mind that the IRS does have some guidelines that need to be met (ie: age limit, etc…). As long as those are met, claiming 6 dependent children is not an issue.
I have five kids and my husband is the only one that works.we were told that he’s only allowed to claim 3
Hi Karina,
It’s difficult to say if your source is incorrect or not. Whether or not you can claim certain dependents on your tax return depends on if the IRS guidelines are met by your husband. The requirements of the child are as follows:
– The child must be a U.S. citizen, national, resident or a resident of Mexico or Canada.
– The child cannot be claimed by someone else or themselves if they are also taking the personal exemption.
– If the child is filing a tax return, they cannot be claiming a dependent.
– The child cannot be filing a joint tax return.
– The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, brother, sister, eligible foster child, half sibling, stepsibling, or adopted child. He/she can also qualify if they are an offspring of any of the above.
– The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year.
– The child must be under 19 years old. If the child is a full-time student, they must be under 24 years old. There is no age limit if the child is totally and permanently disabled.
– You must have provided more than half of the child’s annual financial support.
My ? Is I have 5 kids but I always claim 3 of them because I been told not to claim my other 2 kids because I can’t get any refund for them but I’m the head household they live with me and I support them. Now I’m wondering if I can get a refund for my other 2 kids claim all 5! There all under 18 anda change in my refund would really help since I’m a single mom!
No, there is no maximum amount of dependents you’re allowed to claim on your tax return. You can claim all dependents who are qualified child dependents according to IRS rules. I advise you report all your qualifying dependents on your return and you will be able determine if you are granted a higher refund.
But the refund is payed only for two kids, no mater how many of them you claim as dependents. Up to last year it was two children; now they say, it’s three…
If my wife and I make about $30.000 and have five children, will we get refund for all of them or only for two or three?
There are specific limitations for certain credits that involve your children, such as the child tax credit or the Earned Income Credit. These credits do not take into account all of your children as some of them only limit the claim for your dependents to a limit of 3.
However, you will still receive an exemption amount for your child, which will assist you in lowering your taxable income, as all of your dependents will be counted for this.
I claim my two children on my taxes for the past two years I will be adding three children this year does that mean I will get up to 3 child tax credits?
Hi Candace,
That is correct. If you have children who qualify you to claim the credit, you can get up to $1,000 per child on your tax return.
What if I’m claiming 4 kids? I had three but adopted now I have 4. Will I get credit for the 4th child as well?
Hi Monica,
You can claim the credit for the amount of dependents that qualify. However, the child tax credit is nonrefundable, meaning if your credit amount is higher than your tax liability, your tax bill is just reduced to zero. Any remaining unused credit is lost. The only exception to this is claiming the Additional Child Tax Credit. This one is refundable. The formula for the amount you are actually refunded is a bit more complicated than the initial Child Tax Credit’s. It is based on multiple factors and may not total out to be as much as the Child Tax Credit. RapidTax will calculate this amount for you upon entering your tax information within the application and figure out if you qualify for one or both of the credits.
My son is leaving this yr in Aug to go stay with his dad for the school year. Who claims him me or the dad?
Hi Ki,
Typically, the custodial parent – the one the child spends more than half the year with – claims the dependent child. But the other (noncustodial) parent may claim the dependent if he or she provided half of the child’s support.
Make sure there is nothing in your Divorce papers as to who can claim the child. If not you’ll be hashing it out in court because the IRS doesn’t care who said what they simply want your money. Believe me I know..
What about parents, grandparents. Can they be claimed as dependents?
Hi Karlita,
There are requirements that must be met in order to claim a parent as a dependent on your taxes. We have a whole other article which goes into detail about the IRS rules.
Me and my kids have been living with my mother-in-law she’s claimed both my girls before will she be able to claim my son as well?
If your son is a qualifying dependent, she will be able to claim your son as well.