Support test for qualifying child
Published on October 22, 2025
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Who can you really claim as your dependent? The IRS has a lot of fine print, but one rule stands out: the support test. This test decides if your child counts as your dependent. For American families abroad, the same rule applies, but proving it can be more complicated.
What is the support test for a qualifying child?
The support test means your child cannot have paid for more than half of their own living expenses during the tax year.
If your child covers more than 50% of their costs, you can’t claim them as a dependent. If you or another parent/guardian provides the majority of their support, then the child passes this test.
The IRS takes a broad view of what “support” actually covers. It’s not just the obvious expenses like food or rent. It stretches across housing, education, clothing, healthcare, transportation, and even recreation. To understand the test, it helps to break down exactly what the IRS counts as support and what it doesn’t.
What counts as support under IRS rules?
Support includes most of the basics you’d expect. The IRS lumps these into categories:
- Housing/lodging: Rent, mortgage interest, property taxes, insurance on the home, utilities, and furniture.
- Food: Groceries, meals, snacks (but not the value of free school lunches).
- Clothing: Everyday clothes, shoes, and school uniforms.
- Education: Tuition, books, supplies, and activity fees.
- Medical and dental care: Health insurance premiums, prescriptions, doctor visits, hospital stays.
- Transportation: Bus fares, gas, car insurance, repairs, and lease payments.
- Recreation: Camps, lessons, sports, hobbies, entertainment.
- Other necessities: Cell phone, internet service, and personal care, if they’re part of regular living needs.
IRS Pub 501 groups these under “total support.” So if it’s a basic living expense, it usually counts.
What doesn’t count as support?
Not every payment or benefit is treated as support. Some common items don’t make the cut:
- Scholarships: Amounts received for tuition, fees, and supplies don’t count as the child’s own support.
- Life insurance premiums: Premiums you pay for your own policy don’t count.
- Future savings: Money placed into a savings account, investment, or trust fund for the child isn’t current support.
- Government benefits: Public aid like Medicaid or housing subsidies don’t count as the child providing their own support.
- Services: The value of services provided at no cost (e.g., free medical care, volunteer tutoring) is not supported.
The IRS is looking at what’s actually spent to cover the child’s needs, not money on paper or benefits from outside programs.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what counts as support under IRS rules:
|
Counts as support |
Doesn’t count as support |
|
Housing/lodging – rent, mortgage interest, property taxes, utilities, insurance, and furniture |
Scholarships – amounts for tuition, fees, and supplies (even if paid to the school directly) |
|
Food – groceries, meals, snacks (excluding free school lunches) |
Life insurance premiums – premiums on your own policy or others’ policies |
|
Clothing – everyday wear, shoes, uniforms |
Future savings – money set aside in savings, investments, or trust funds |
|
Education – tuition, books, supplies, school activity fees |
Government benefits – Medicaid, housing aid, food assistance, etc. |
|
Medical & dental care – health insurance premiums, prescriptions, doctor/hospital costs |
Free services – value of volunteer or no-cost services (e.g., tutoring, medical care) |
|
Transportation – bus/train fares, gas, insurance, car repairs, lease payments |
|
|
Recreation – camps, lessons, hobbies, entertainment |
|
|
Other necessities – phone, internet, personal care, if part of normal living needs |
See if your qualifying child can get up to $1,700 with ACTC.
How do you calculate if you provided more than half of your child’s support?
Here’s a simple way to approach it:
- Add up the total cost of support for the year, which includes housing, food, education, healthcare, and everything else.
- Work out the child’s contribution: This includes wages, savings, or income they used to pay their own expenses. Leave out scholarships.
- Work out your contribution: Include rent, tuition, medical bills, and groceries. Whatever you paid directly.
- Account for others’ contributions: like grandparents or relatives.
- Do the math: If your share is more than 50% of the total, you pass the support test.
For example:
Let’s say your child’s total support costs for the year come to US$25,000. This includes rent, food, school fees, medical care, and day-to-day expenses.
- Your child’s contribution: They worked part-time in Canada and used about US$7,000 of their earnings for living costs.
- Your contribution: From abroad, you sent monthly wire transfers that added up to US$13,000. You also directly paid for your child’s international school tuition, about US$3,000. That’s US$16,000 in total.
- Other relatives: Grandparents in the US chipped in US$2,000 for summer camp and clothing.
Now add it all up: US$7,000 + US$16,000 + US$2,000 = US$25,000 total support.
When you calculate your share, it’s US$16,000 ÷ US$25,000 = 64%.
That means you provided well over half the support, so your child passes the support test as your qualifying child. Remember, you’d need to convert Canadian dollars into US dollars using IRS exchange rates.
Why is the support test important for claiming a dependent?
Because it decides whether your child qualifies as your dependent at all. If they fail the support test, you can’t claim them, even if they’re under 19 or a full-time student.
It also connects directly to tax benefits:
- Child Tax Credit (worth up to US$2,000 per child): US expats can get the Additional Child Tax Credit, which is the refundable portion of the CTC (worth up to US$1,700)
- Earned Income Tax Credit: Bigger credit if you have qualifying children, though expats generally can’t claim it.
- Dependent Care Credit: for work-related childcare.
- Head of Household filing status: lower tax brackets, higher standard deduction.
Bottom line: Passing the support test can be the difference between thousands of dollars in credits or nothing at all.
How does the support test apply if you live abroad?
The rules are the same for Americans abroad, but applying them takes extra effort.
- Currency conversion: You must report expenses in US dollars, usually using the IRS annual average exchange rate.
- Proof of support: Keep records. Wire transfers, foreign tuition invoices, medical bills, and even grocery receipts if you can.
- Residency restrictions: To be a dependent, your child must be a US citizen, Green Card holder, US resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico. A child living abroad without US status usually doesn’t qualify.
- Custody across borders: If parents live in different countries, the tie-breaker rules still apply. Custody days come first, and if equal, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income wins the claim.
FAQs
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How do scholarships affect the support test for expat children?
Scholarships don’t count as the child supporting themselves, even if they cover tuition at a foreign university. That means a student abroad may still qualify as your dependent if you pay for most other expenses.
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What records should expats keep to prove support?
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What are the common mistakes people make with the support test?
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Can both parents count on support if they live in different countries?
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What if my child files a tax return abroad?
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Do government benefits count as the child’s support?
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