Full-time student qualification

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Hello. My son currently lives 1/2 of half of the year with me and 1/2 of the year with his mother. He graduated from high school in June 2021 and was enrolled as a full-time student at a community college starting in August of 2021. He is currently 19 years old. Does he qualify as a full-time student in 2021?

Thanks

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Mike9241

Level 15

you didn't provide enough information. it is in the institution that determines what is full time. what the IRS says is that to be full-time, the student must be enrolled full-time during any part of 5 months during the year.

Mike9241

SarapDadTTAuthor

Level 2

Yes, the community college does stipulate the number of credits that a student must take in order to be considered full vs part time and he met this minimum requirement. Additionally, he attended high school from January through June of 2021 as a full time high school student.

Cynthiad66

Alumni - Intuit

.@SarapDadT

Based on the information provided he is considered a full time student. To be considered a full-time student, the child must be enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full time and must be a student for at least five months during the year. In a nutshell, you can usually claim your college student as a dependent if they're a full-time student at a qualifying school and they meet the IRS guidelines.

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Carl

Level 11

He graduated from high school in June 2021

So for the first semester of 2021 (which is the 2nd semester of his high school senior year) he was a full time student. That alone is enough.

and was enrolled as a full-time student at a community college starting in August of 2021.

So for the 2nd semester of 2021 (1st semester of his college freshman year) he was also enrolled as a full time student.

Of the five requirements, he meets the one that states he was enrolled as a full time student at an accredited institution (high school is an accredited institution) for "any one semester" that started in the tax year.

Also, if your son will be filing a tax return, he must select the option for "I can be claimed on someone else's return" if he qualifies by either parent to be claimed as a dependent.

Note the key word here is "QUALIFY". It does not matter if the parent(s) claim him as a dependent or not. If the parent(s) "QUALIFY" to claim him, then the student must select the option for "I can be claimed on someone else's return".

The parent(s) have a choice here. The student does not have a choice.