no. also, you are not eligible until you are 25
No you do not have to file unless someone is claiming you as a dependent. Then file jointly with them.
If she was a full time student during at least 5 months of the year and did not provide more than half of her own support and met all of the other usual qualifications for claiming a dependent, yes.
There will ALWAYS be rules.
There's a box that's checked on Form 1040EZ in line 5 if you're filing your own tax return and your parents are claiming you as a dependent. But you leave the box blank (unchecked) if you're using Form 1040A or Form 1040. On those two forms, it's the box on line 6a and it's stated "If someone can claim you as a dependent, do not check box 6a." The point of indicating on your tax return that your parents are claiming you as a dependent is to make sure that you don't take an exemption for yourself, because your parents are claiming your exemption on their return.
no. also, you are not eligible until you are 25
No you do not have to file unless someone is claiming you as a dependent. Then file jointly with them.
The IRS will not allow you to claim a dependent that is not your child unless that child falls into one of the other allowable dependent categories such as stepchild or disabled family member. The penalties for claiming a child who is not your actual dependent according to the law include fines and possible jail time.
If she was a full time student during at least 5 months of the year and did not provide more than half of her own support and met all of the other usual qualifications for claiming a dependent, yes.
There will ALWAYS be rules.
There's a box that's checked on Form 1040EZ in line 5 if you're filing your own tax return and your parents are claiming you as a dependent. But you leave the box blank (unchecked) if you're using Form 1040A or Form 1040. On those two forms, it's the box on line 6a and it's stated "If someone can claim you as a dependent, do not check box 6a." The point of indicating on your tax return that your parents are claiming you as a dependent is to make sure that you don't take an exemption for yourself, because your parents are claiming your exemption on their return.
Of course, they must be a "qualified relative" before you can even hope to claim them. It depends on your specific tax situation, but each dependent is worth +/- $750 of additional refund.
You cannot claim any dependents if you can legitimately be claimed as a dependent by someone else. So if your mother legitimately claimed you, you cannot claim your son. But you should check the rules for claiming a dependent to see if your mother could also have claimed your son.
Possibly. Receiving SS benefits does not by itself preclude claiming your parent as a dependent. But you still have to meet all of the other qualifications for claiming a dependent. SS benefits do not count toward the gross income limit for a qualifying relative if they are not taxable on the dependent's tax return. But if the parent spends the SS benefits on their own support, they count as money the parent spends on their own support. (You have to provide more than half the parent's support.) To see the other requirements for claiming a dependent, see page 11 of Publication 501: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf
If they live in your house, legally yes you can claim them. You can also claim a student in college as a dependent up to 21 years of age. So even if your student is paying their entire way, legally they can still be someone's dependent. When the child files their tax returns, they have to put that someone claims them as a dependent, or the IRS may look at why the guardian is also claiming them as a dependent.
Someone claiming to be someone they are not.
An individual claiming another individual as a dependent on their taxes will receive a tax deduction of $3300. The amount that the individual will get back as a tax refund will be dependent upon the income of the taxpayer.