Can you claim this person as a dependent?

Often yes. For the qualifying-relative gross income test, Publication 501 says not to include Social Security benefits unless half the benefits plus the person's other gross income and tax-exempt interest exceeds $25,000 ($32,000 if married filing jointly). A parent living on $30,000 of benefits and nothing else has $0 of gross income for the test. The harder test is usually support: you must provide more than half of your parent's total support, and benefits your parent spends on themselves count as their own support.

No. A parent is on Publication 501's list of relatives who do not have to live with you. And if your parent is your dependent, you can file as head of household without your parent living with you, as long as you pay more than half the cost of keeping up your parent's main home — including a care facility.

The gross income limit is $5,300 for tax years beginning in 2026, up from $5,200 for 2025. Gross income is money, property, and services that are not exempt from tax; it is not AGI or taxable income after deductions. Social Security benefits are excluded unless either Publication 501 Social Security prong is met.

Only as a qualifying relative, and only if they lived with you as a member of your household for the entire year, had gross income under the limit, you provided more than half their support, and the relationship does not violate local law. Six or eleven months is not enough. Even when they qualify, an unrelated household member does not make you eligible for head of household.

As a qualifying child only if they were a full-time student during some part of each of any five calendar months of the year, under 24 at year end, younger than you, lived with you more than half the year (school counts as a temporary absence), and did not provide more than half of their own support. A 22-year-old who has graduated and works fails the age test but may still be a qualifying relative if their gross income is under the limit and you provide more than half their support.

Yes, if the other tests are met. A child born (or who died) during the year meets the residency test when your home was the child's home for more than half the time the child was alive, so a baby born October 1 who came home from the hospital qualifies; a required hospital stay after birth counts as time at home. Such a child is a qualifying child, not a qualifying relative, and can make you eligible for head of household. The child tax credit also needs a Social Security number valid for employment issued by the return due date.

The tiebreaker rules. If only one claimant is the biological or adoptive parent, that parent wins. Between two parents, more nights wins, then higher AGI if nights tie. If neither claimant is a parent and no parent can claim the child, the higher-AGI claimant wins. If a parent can claim but does not, an additional parent-AGI rule applies. Form 8332 can release specified dependency and child-credit benefits to a noncustodial parent, but it does not transfer head-of-household status or the earned income credit.