[Individual]Dependent or Independent 1 (Jan-14-2011, 94 Days)

Qualifying Child and Qualifying Relative may be your dependent and bring you some tax benefits. But what's qualifying child and qualifying relative? There are some tests to do.

	Qualifying Child	Qualifying Relative
Relationship	Son, Daughter, Stepchild, foster child, Brother, sister, half brother, half sister, Stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them	Son, Daughter, Stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them Brother, sister, half brother, half sister, or a son or daughter of any of them Father, mother, or an ancestor or sibling of either of them Stepbrother, stepsister, stepfather, stepmother, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law Any other person (other than your spouse) who lived with you all year as a member of your household if your relationship did not violate local law.
Age	Under age 19 at the end of 2010 and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) Under age 24 at the end of 2010, a full-time student for at least 5 months of the year Any age and permanently and totally disabled
Residence	Live with you for more than half of 2010. Temporary absences for special circumstances count as time the person lived with you, such as school, vacation, business, medical care, military service, or detention in a juvenile facility. A child is considered to have lived with you for all of 2010 if the child was born or died in 2010.
Support	Did not provide over half of his/her own support	You provided over half of his or her support Worksheet for determining support
Taxpayer		Not a qualifying child of any taxpayer Not required to file a U.S. income tax return Do not file such a return or files only to get a refund of over-withheld income tax
Gross Income		less than 3650 If permanently and totally disabled, certain income for services performed at a sheltered workshop is excluded.

If qualifying child and qualifying relative meet certain conditions, they are your dependent.

	Qualifying Child --to be---Dependent	Qualifying Relative --to be---Dependent
Nationality	U.S. citizen, national, resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico	Same rule as qualifying child
Marital status	If married, did not file a joint return or only file a joint return as a claim for refund	Same rule as qualifying child
Be claimed as someone else's dependent	If you or your spouse file jointly, you cannot be claimed as a dependent on some else's tax return	Same rule as qualifying child

PSQ

Source: http://www.irs.gov