Taxes: Getting claimed as a dependent

[tinanguyen26]

Hi I am 18 years old, a full time student that lives at home. Can my parents still claim me a dependent when they don't provide more than half of my expenses? 

[AlanT222]

No, they cannot claim you if you provided more than half of your support.  

One requirement to claim a dependent is that you must provide more than 50% of their support, which is the cost of basic life necessities such as food, lodging, clothing, medical and dental care, education, transportation, utilities, and so forth.

To determine this, compare how much you spend on this person's necessities with how much they (or somebody else) contributes.

• Divide per-household costs like utilities, groceries, and lodging by the number of household members to determine the per-person cost.
• If your mortgage is paid off, use the fair rental value of your home to figure the lodging expense.

If you are paying more than 50% of another person's necessary living expenses, you financially support that person.

[NCperson]

question: why are you asking?  it's normally better for the FAMILY if the parent claims you as then they are elgiibel for up to $2500 of AOTC (you are limited to $1000 under certain circumstances), they can claim up to a $500 other dependent tax credit.

if you are living at home, are you paying market value rent to your parents, utilities, upkeep of the home, your medical insurance, etc?

Your income is NOT part of the determining factor.  you could be making $1mm a year but your parents are paying your support costs and you would still be a dependent for tax purposes.

What is you motivation to not want to be a dependent of your parents for tax purposes?

[tinanguyen26]

Hi thank you for your response. I only ask all of this because of my high income that resulted me in paying over $2500 in taxes and I cannot afford that because I am currently out of work due to state wide quarantine. This is coming from already speaking to an accountant, if I was able to claim my 1098-T, I would have been able to get a tax refund to help cover taxes I have to pay.

Thank you for your input though

[Hal_Al]

Q. Can my parents still claim me a dependent when they don't provide more than half of my support? 

A. Yes.

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. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit.

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 considered third party support and not as support provided by the student. Note that the support test (for a QC) is not that the taxpayer parent provided more than half your support, but that you didn't provide more than half.
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.