Q. There is a question whether or not I can claim her as a dependent if she does not make more than ~$5050.
A. Full time college students, under 24, are still their parents dependents regardless of how much income they have.
There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("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.
A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:
- 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
- He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
- 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 she earned. What matters is how much she spent on support.
See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Ret...
Q. She had a fellowship awarded for $4750. Does this fellowship count as income?
A. It depends on what she did to get it and how it was reported and what level of education she is at.
In general, scholarships that pay for qualified educational expenses (QEE - tuition, fees, books and other course materials) is tax free. Scholarship amounts that exceed QEE is taxable income, on the student’s tax return. Room & board are not QEE. If include in box 5 of the 1098-T, it is not reported separately.
If box 5 of the 1098-T exceeds box 1, TurboTax (TT) will treat the difference as taxable income, unless you enter additional QEE at books and other expenses.
If you are entering the 1098-T, on your return, TT will advise you that your student has taxable scholarship income. It will not (and should not) enter the taxable scholarship on your tax return.
