The Member of Household or Relationship Test Did the child you wish to claim as an exemption live with your for the entire year as a member of your household, other than during temporary absences by either of you due to illness, education, business, vacations, or military service?
Yes _____ No _____ Is the child related to you by birth or adoption?
Yes _____ No _____ If you answered yes to either or both of these questions, move on to the next test. If you answered no to both questions, stop here. You are not entitled to claim the child as a dependent/exemption. The Citizenship or Residency Test Was the child a U.S. citizen or resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico, for some part of the tax year?
Yes _____ No _____ If you answered yes to this question, move on to the next test. If you answered no, stop here. You are not entitled to claim the child as a dependent/exemption. The Joint Return Test Can the child file a joint return with another taxpayer?
Yes _____ No _____ If you answered no to this question, move on to the next test. If you answered yes, stop here. You are not entitled to claim the child as a dependent/exemption. (Note: This situation generally arises only when the child is married.) The Gross Income Test Did the child earn less than $2,800 this tax year?
Yes _____ No _____ Was the child under age nineteen at the end of the year?
Yes _____ No _____ Was the child a student under age twenty-four at the end of the year?
Yes _____ No _____ If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, move on to the next test. If you answered no to all three questions, stop here. You are not entitled to claim the child as a dependent/exemption. The Support Test Did you provide more than half of the child's financial support during the year?
Yes ___ No ____ To calculate whether you provided half of the child's support, complete the following: | Child's total expenses (total housing-related expenses, including food, rent, utilities, and repairs, divided by the number of people in the household; plus the child's personal expenses, including clothing, education, medical and dental care, and recreation) | $__________ | | Minus amount of support you provided | -__________ | | Difference | =__________ |
Is the amount of support you provided greater than the difference? If so, you provided more than half of the support for this child. If you answered yes to this question and passed all of the tests above, you are entitled to claim the child as a dependent/exemption on your income taxes. | 
