Full-time Student Support Claim?

[chloesoojin]

I recently graduated college in May of 2024. My parents supported me throughout college, until graduation. Immediately upon graduating, I began working a full time career and supporting myself. It's my understanding that I would still file as a full time student -- but would I check yes or no to "Did you support yourself?" since my parents supported me through college? 

[DianeW777]

It depends. The entire tax year must be taken into account for support.  I will include a Dependent Support Worksheet to review so that you can determine if you paid more than half of your own support.  

This is the key as to whether you can claim yourself or if your parents would be the only qualifying taxpayer to claim your dependency. Any money placed in a savings account and that was not removed can be subtracted from your income. All other income you earned would be considered spent on your support.

• Who can I claim as a dependent?
• Dependents 
• Worksheet for Determining Support

If you determine your parents actually provided more than half of your support then it's very important for you to check the box next to 'Another taxpayer can claim you on their tax return' in the Personal Information section. And select 'No' you did not support yourself.

[Hal_Al]

Can the student be claimed as a dependent in the Graduation year? (answer written as if the parent asked the question)

If he/she was a student (under 24) for at least 5 months and lived with you for more than half the year, and did not provide more than 1/2 his own support for the whole year, you can still claim him. Be sure he knows you're claiming him, so he doesn't claim himself. He can only be claimed once. But, he can "file taxes" without claiming his own exemption.

The real question is who should be claiming him in this "transition" year to adulthood. You two have to agree on who is going to claim his exemption. Each should do their taxes both ways and see which way the family comes out best.  Even then, you have to meet the rules. 

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("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. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit.

The rule is that a child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” dependent, regardless of his income, if:

1. he is a full-time student under 24 for at least 5 calendar months of the year (graduating in May usually means you meet the 5 month rule)
2. he did not provide more than 1/2 his own support  (scholarships are considered 3rd party support and not support provided by the student). 
3. lived with the parent (including time away at school) for more than half the year

So, it usually hinges on "Did he provide more than 1/2 his own support in 2024.

The support value of the home you provided is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants. IRS Publication 501 on page 20 has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf  (page 15)