Key Takeaways
- A qualifying relative's gross income must be under $5,300 for 2026 and $5,500 for 2027.
- There's no income limit for a qualifying child: under 19, or under 24 if a full-time student.
- The Child Tax Credit is $2,200 per child for 2026 and $2,300 for 2027.
- Dependents who miss the CTC rules can still get the $500 Credit for Other Dependents.
To claim someone who isn’t your qualifying child, their gross income must be under $5,300 for 2026, the year you file for this spring. For 2027, the IRS has raised that limit to $5,500 in Revenue Procedure 2026-35.
There’s no dollar exemption for claiming a dependent anymore. The One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBBA) made the end of personal exemptions permanent, so the value now comes from credits and, for some single parents, head of household status.
Who counts as your dependent comes down to two separate tests. Mixing them up is the single most common mistake I see.
The Two Tests at a Glance
Every dependent is either a qualifying child or a qualifying relative. Here’s how they differ.
| Rule | Qualifying child | Qualifying relative |
|---|---|---|
| Age | Under 19, or under 24 if a full-time student | Any age |
| Lives with you | More than half the year | All year, or a listed relative |
| Income limit | None | Under $5,300 (2026), $5,500 (2027) |
| Support | Doesn’t pay over half their own | You pay over half |
The age test looks at December 31. A child also has to be younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly), and a permanently and totally disabled child of any age can still qualify.
Qualifying Child: Age, Residency and Support
A qualifying child is your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, sibling, half-sibling or step-sibling, or a descendant of any of them, like a grandchild, niece or nephew.
Time away at college, in the hospital or in the military counts as living with you. That’s why a full-time student in a dorm usually still passes the residency test.
A full-time student means enrolled full time for at least part of five calendar months during the year.
Readers often ask about kids who turn 18 or 19 late in the year. What counts is their age on December 31: a son who turns 18 on December 31, 2026 is still under 19, so he can be your qualifying child for 2026.
Qualifying Relative: The $5,300 and $5,500 Gross Income Test
The qualifying relative test covers people who don’t fit the child rules, such as an elderly parent, a 24-year-old who’s still in school, or an adult sibling.
An unrelated person can qualify too, if they lived with you all year as a member of your household. Parents, grandparents, in-laws, aunts, uncles and siblings don’t have to live with you at all.
The gross income limit is strict:
- 2026: under $5,300
- 2027: under $5,500
There’s no phase-out. At $5,301 for 2026, the person no longer qualifies under this test.
Gross income includes wages, self-employment income, taxable interest, dividends, rental income and capital gains. It doesn’t include tax-exempt interest, gifts or, in most cases, Social Security benefits (only the taxable portion counts).
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What a Dependent Is Worth on Your Return
Since there’s no exemption, the value of a dependent comes from three places.
The Child Tax Credit. It’s worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child under 17 for 2026, with up to $1,700 refundable. For 2027, it rises to $2,300, with $1,800 refundable. My Child Tax Credit guide covers the phase-outs and the Social Security number rules the OBBBA added.
The $500 Credit for Other Dependents. This covers dependents who don’t meet the CTC’s age or relationship rules: a 17- or 18-year-old, a college student 19 to 23, or a qualifying relative like a parent. It isn’t indexed, so it stays $500 in 2027, and it phases out with the CTC above $200,000 of income ($400,000 joint).
Parents of college students should also look at the education tax credits that come with claiming them.
Filing status. If you’re unmarried and pay more than half the cost of keeping up your home for a qualifying person, you may be able to file as head of household, with a bigger standard deduction and wider brackets. See my guide to picking the right filing status.
A qualifying child can also open the door to the Earned Income Tax Credit for lower-income workers; the EITC income limits post has the current tables.
Two Households, Two Different Tests
Renee, 41, is divorced and pays more than half the cost of her home. Her 16-year-old son lives with her 230 nights a year and earned $6,200 from a summer job.
His income doesn’t matter, because the income limit only applies to qualifying relatives. Renee claims him as a qualifying child, gets the $2,200 Child Tax Credit for 2026 and files as head of household.
Gary pays most of the costs for his 72-year-old father, who lives in his own apartment. His father has $4,900 of taxable pension income and Social Security that isn’t taxable at his income.
Because his father’s gross income is under $5,300 and Gary covers more than half his support, Gary can claim him as a qualifying relative for 2026. That gets Gary the $500 Credit for Other Dependents, but not the Child Tax Credit.
Where Families Get Dependent Claims Wrong
These are the dependent questions I get every filing season.
Applying the income limit to a child. A teenager or full-time student under 24 can earn any amount and still be your qualifying child. The $5,300 limit only applies once they fail the child tests, for example at age 24.
Two parents claiming the same child. Only one return can claim a child. When separated parents both try, the IRS uses tiebreaker rules, generally favoring the parent the child lived with longer, and the other return gets an adjustment notice.
Forgetting the support test. Living under your roof isn’t enough for a qualifying relative. You need to have paid more than half their total support for the year.
Assuming a partner can’t qualify. An unmarried partner who lived with you all year, had gross income under $5,300 and got more than half their support from you can be your qualifying relative.
Forgetting the dependent’s own return. A dependent with a job may still need to file. For 2026, their standard deduction is the greater of $1,350 or their earned income plus $450; for 2027, it’s $1,400 or earned income plus $500. The full numbers are in my federal tax brackets and standard deduction guide.
What Changes for Dependents in 2027 and 2028
The 2027 figures are set: a $5,500 gross income limit, a $2,300 Child Tax Credit with $1,800 refundable and a $1,400 minimum standard deduction for dependents. The $500 Credit for Other Dependents and the $200,000/$400,000 phase-out don’t change, because they aren’t indexed.
For 2028, I’m watching the IRS’s next inflation Revenue Procedure, usually out in late October or November 2027. The gross income limit moves in $50 steps, so I’d expect it to land around $5,600 to $5,650. That’s my estimate, not an IRS number.
Personal exemptions aren’t coming back on their own. The OBBBA made their repeal permanent, and my OBBBA guide tracks any new changes to family tax rules.
