Student/Dependent Status

[denver_yoda]

My daughter, who will be 19, is currently living and working in a different state and taking dance at a dance school 5 days a week 3 hours a day.  I do not believe the school is accredited, merely a dance company that teaches ballet.  Does this allow/prevent her from being considered a full time student?  If she is not considered a full time student, what does this do for my ability to claim her on my taxes?  Will she need to file her own taxes and not be claimed as a dependent?  She is still living at home when not in classes (Thanksgiving/Christmas/school breaks and summer).   Also, she was full time at home until August (first half of year she was still in high school).

[Bsch4477]

If she was in high school for 5 months in 2022 she was a full time student and your dependent.  If not she is still your dependent for 2022 if you provided more than half of her support and she earned less than $4,400. 

[Hal_Al]

Q.  The school is not accredited, merely a dance company that teaches ballet.  Does this allow/prevent her from being considered a full time student? 

A.  Maybe.

But, as @Bsch4477  said, the question is academic for the current tax year, since your child was a full time high school student for the required 5 months.

To claim a tuition credit, your student must be enrolled in an "eligible institution" for post secondary education.  But, the rules for being a full time student, for purposes of claiming your child as a dependent, are not as stringent. 

From IRS pub 17:

Student defined.

To qualify as a student (for dependency), your child must be, during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year:
1. A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body at the school; or
2. A student taking a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school described in
(1), or by a state, county, or local government agency.