College for son

[x93shox]

My son started college in 2025 and we paid his tuition which was only 3200 dollars he worked for summer and made under 3 k and only paid 73 in federal taxes. Would it be smart to just claim him as a dependent  or does he need to file him self. he’s still only 18  and me and my wife still fully support him as of right now. this is my only question on filing taxes this year.. 

many help would be appreciated 

[xmasbaby0]

MY DEPENDENT HAD A JOB

If your dependent has a W-2 for his after-school job, summer job, etc. you do not include the information on your own return. You can still claim your child as a dependent on your own return.  He/she can file his own return for a refund of some of his withheld wages from boxes 2 or 17 (he won’t get back anything for Social Security or Medicare), but MUST indicate on it that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.  (Supervise this closely or prepare it for him!)

If your dependent’s earnings were over $400 and were reported on a 1099Misc or 1099NEC then he must file a return and pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.

You might also want to use free software from the IRS Free File versions:

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

Q. Would it be smart to just claim him as a dependent?

A. Yes. At a minimum, there is a $500 "other dependent credit" for you.  Unless your income is too high to qualify, there should also be an (up to) $3200 education credit (maybe even more of he has expenses for books and a computer).  He is not eligible for that credit on his own return. Effectively, only parents can claim that credit. 

With the tax law change, effective 2018, most students will get the same refund whether they claim themselves or not. The personal exemption has been eliminated and the standard deduction increased.