Do I claim myself as an independent?

[mohabib]

Thank you so much for the reply! I did not know that someone still "qualifies" to be claimed if they lived with their mother/father for more than half of the year. Does income not play a role under these circumstances then?

[Hal_Al]

Q.  Does income not play a role under these circumstances then?

A.  No. Income is irrelevant for the "Qualifying Child' rules. It doesn't matter how much he earned. What matters is how much he spent on support. 

On the other hand, if a  child/student does not meet the QC rules,  income is a factor in whether he can be claimed under the "qualifying relative" (standard) dependent rules.  There is a $4300 income limit.

But, since you are a fulltime student, under 24 and live at home, you come under the QC rules, not the qualifying relative rules. 

[mohabib]

You are very kind for taking the time to respond to my questions. I assume you get these questions a lot haha. Since I am a "QC", I did spend a good chunk of my earned income on support. Car payments, insurance, phones, etc. Would this be enough to say that "I provided more than half of my own support"?

[Hal_Al]

 Would this be enough to say that "I provided more than half of my own support"?

Only you can answer that by crunching the numbers. Use the work sheet.

Be careful what you wish for.  The stimulus payment you get COULD be less than the dependent credit and tuition credit your parents woulda got.  The only way to be sure is for both of you to prepare returns both ways and compare. 

[JoeRiley11]

@Cynthiad66 

Hi I have a question about claiming as an independent. I haven’t lived with my mom in over a year, and pay for all of my own groceries, gas, etc. I have been wanting to file as an independent, but the only issues is I don’t have a permanent address. I kind of hop around from place to place. I will be in college come fall but that’s not even a permanent residency. I was wondering if I can claim independent and still just keep my moms address bc I let my stuff mail to her and then she just mails it to me whenever she gets it. Or in order to claim as independent do I have to have a different permanent address?

[MaryM428]

Because you are paying for more than half of your own support and not living with her, your mother could not claim you as her dependent.

You can claim as independent and use your mother's address to file your tax return.  Make sure that she knows that you are using her address.  When you file your 2020 taxes, select the option that no other person can claim you as a dependent.  Make sure that your mother does not claim you as a dependent for 2020 taxes.

Also make sure to tell TurboTax that you did not receive the first and second stimulus payments, as you will be eligible to claim those payments with your 2020 tax return, even if your mother received them last year.

[smolslime]

Hi, I also had a similar problem. So recently my parents and I got into a dispute over me claiming myself as independent when I filed taxes for the first time on my own this year. They haven't filed theirs yet so I went ahead and filed for myself as independent. I'm 20 years old and I do online schooling for Penn Foster which I read does not count towards taxes or anything since it's just an online, "work at your own pace" type of college program. I pay entirely for said program. I also filed just over $11,000 this year so if the $4,300 issue comes into play, I was indeed over that. I do though live in their home and they pay for the families groceries, the home bills, and the health insurance included with my parent's jobs. However, I do own a car and bough said car on my own, pay for the car insurance, pay for my phone and phone bill, all of my clothes minus like, birthday gifts, pay for my snacks and recreation activities, my gas for my car, all my cosmetics, my school, and any extra thing that isn't a need, just a want such as my pets and everything they need. Are they correct about being able to file me as dependent since I live in their home and they pay for said home and the things in the home like electricity and water bills? I already filed and received both my tax return and a stimulus check (I have never gotten one before this). Am I in the wrong and do I need to file an amended tax claim in order to fix this even if they haven't filed their taxes this year yet still got the stimulus checks including the previous ones?
Also to add, soon I will be moving out and unless they still choose to cover my insurances, they will have no responsibilities over me whatsoever as I'll be paying for EVERYTHING of my own including rent so they'd be loosing the dependency of me completely anyway. So, should it have also been such a big ordeal for me to have claimed myself independent?

[Hal_Al]

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

Although Penn Foster is not a "qualified institution" for tuition credits, it is still a school for the Full time student  dependent rule, even if all the course work is online. So, it comes down to how many credits you are taking.  The school determines what is a full time load. Most colleges require students to register for at least 12 credit hours to be considered full-time (it varies) you may need to check with your school registrar’s office to be certain.

So, it doesn't matter how much he earned. What matters is how much he spent on support. Money he put into savings does not count as support he spent on him self.

The support value of the home, provided by the parent, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

If  you do not qualify as a QC; then the income rule ($4300) applies to whether you can be claimed as a Qualifying Relative. You can't. 

[useramanda]

I have a similar question.

[CatinaT1]

What is your question?

[Anonymous]

HI, so I have been living on my own for a year now and I am 21 years old a full-time student and I live off campus. I pay for everything on my own, but I don't make as much as I would like so most of the things I do I explain to them my situation and get some type of aid.  I want to file for taxes for the first time independently, But I am scared that this will affect my insurance and I won't have coverage since it is through my parents. Is that so? All the insurance I've searched so far is either too expensive or does not cover as nearly aas much as the one I have now (this includes my college insurance).  

[DMarkM1]

You do not have to be a dependent on your parents taxes to still be covered under their health insurance policy as long as you are under age 26.  You can file your return independently.  Once you turn age 26 you will need to find your own health insurance coverage.    

Here is a link for reference.