Can I claim my siblings on my tax return?

Indeed, this is both possible and common. A taxpayer can claim his siblings as dependents on his tax return, as long as they meet the IRS criteria for a “qualifying child.” The primary tests are:

1. Relationship Test: The siblings must be the taxpayer’s brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, or stepsister.
2. The age test requires that the siblings be under 19 at the end of the tax year, under 24 if they are full-time students, or any age if they are permanently and totally disabled.
3. Residency Test: The siblings must have lived with the taxpayer for more than half of the tax year.
4. Support Test: The siblings must not have provided more than half of their own support during the tax year.
5. Joint Return Test: The siblings must not file a joint return for the year unless it’s solely to claim a refund of withheld income tax or estimated tax paid.

If the siblings also qualify as dependents for another taxpayer, such as a parent, the IRS “tiebreaker rules” determine who can claim them. Generally, the parent with whom the child lived for the longer period during the year has the priority to claim the child. If the child lived with each parent for an equal amount of time, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) has the priority. In cases where the child is not the qualifying child of a parent, the person with the highest AGI may claim the child. 

Therefore, if the father meets all the qualifying criteria and has a higher AGI, he would typically have the priority to claim the siblings as dependents. The older brother could only claim them if the father does not claim them and the siblings meet all the qualifying child criteria for the brother.

For detailed information, see Publication 501 (2024), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

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