independent or dependent? student

[eylenab]

I am a 21 year old full-time student at an accredited university, so I understand how I may be claimed as dependent for tax purposes. However, I also pay for more than 50% of my expenses, which from what I read makes me not eligible to be claimed as dependent. My father and mother agree to this and have told their tax lady to not claim me for that reason, however, she said it was illegal for me to file independent, so she went ahead and claimed me anyway on their taxes. Because of this, my return was rejected after I filed.

is this true or does me being financially responsible for more than half of my expenses serve as a reason for me to file independently without technically being able to be claimed?

[Bsch4477]

If you truly provide more than half of your support you can’t be claimed as a dependent. Use this worksheet to determine that 

https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

[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

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. Scholarships are not self support by the student, nor are distributions from a 529 plan where the student is the beneficiary.