VASSART
Returning Member

Question on When to Claim Adult Child as Dependent

Hi. My 22 year-old daughter had been going to undergrad for past 3 years, and I was paying for college plus her apartment and expenses.  Thus, I claimed her as dependent. I assumed this year I would do the same and so gave my daughter $900/month to cover her expenses (throught July).  She then received a fellowship from UNC for Grad school for full ride ($22k per year plus 10k stipend), and here W2s show 10k for the total year.  I stopped giving her the $900/month from August forward.  She physically moved to North Carolina, out of my state, in mid-June.

 

So, my question is this - I was obviously paying more than half of here living expenses for the first 7 months of the year, but if you compare my contributions of $6300 + 4k college costs that I paid to her full-year W2s, she made more than I contributed.  Thus, I did not pay "over half of her expenses".  Nor did she physically live with us for more than half the year, although she is still a full time student.

 

So, am I right to assume I can no longer claim her as a dependent for this year?  It matters a lot because I had included her on my ACA account through July, and removing her as a dependent now forces me to repay about $2500 to $3000 of that credit, plus I lose the $500 and the American Opportunity Credit ($2500).