If you do not qualify as a dependent of your parents, your refund should be bigger (or the tax due lower) that it would be if your parents could claim you as a dependent. From your description, you likely are not a dependent (you may have provided more than half of your support).

Your parents could claim you as a dependent if the following applies to your situation:

• You are either under 19, or between the ages of 19 and 24,
• If you are over 19, you are a full time student for 2016

1. To be a student, they 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.
2. The 5 calendar months don't have to be consecutive.

• This test is different from the support test to be a qualifying relative, which is described later. However, to see what is or isn't support, see Support Test (To Be a Qualifying Relative) , later. If you aren't sure whether a child provided more than half of his or her own support, you may find Worksheet 2 helpful.

• An exception to the joint return test applies if your child and his or her spouse file a joint return only to claim a refund of income tax withheld or estimated tax paid.

If you paid for more than half of your support (like food, shelter, transportation, medical and dental, clothing, and recreation) with the money you earned, they cannot claim your as a dependent. Use worksheet 2 from page 16 of this PDF verison of Publication 501.