Is my son a dependent? He's 23, a full time law student lived at home until August. We are cosigners on his rent he pays all of. Does his rent count if we are cosigners?

[jk98-]

He paid nothing towards his support until he went to school in August. He has a full scholarship so no tuition is due. He pays all his rent now while at school. When determining if he paid half his support do we figure for the whole year or just through August? Our mortgage is paid off, so we know that would be fair market rental value, utilities, food, etc divided by 5 people who lived here. He actually had 2 leases at one point, both cosigned by us. He started at one law school, but got a full tuition offer at another and switched schools, but couldn't get out of his first lease right away. So for awhile he was paying a lot of money in rent expenses between 2 apartments, $800 and $1100 a month. But since we were cosigners on both, do we count that as his own self support? Thank you.

[Carl]

First, understand that the parent is not required to provide the student any support. Not one single penny. The support requirement is on the student, and only the student. For that specific requirement, it's like this:

If the student did not provide "MORE THAN" 50% of the student's "OWN SUPPORT" then the parents' qualify to claim the student as a dependent on the parents' tax return. Scholarships, grants, 529 distributions, Gifts from Aunt Mary, money from mom & dad and any other 3rd party source *do not count* for the student providing their own support.

There are only two possible ways the student can provide more than 50% of their own support.

1) The student is self employed or has a W-2 job and earns enough money during the tax year to justify a claim of providing more than half of their own support. Additionally, the money earned has to be more than the total of all 3rd party support received during the tax year.

2) the student (not the parent) is the *PRIMARY* borrower on a qualified student loan, and sufficient funds were distributed to the student during the tax year you justify a claim to providing more than 50% of their own support. Additionaly the money distributed has to be more than the total of all 3rd party support received during the tax year.

Finally, take note here the key word is *QUALIFY*. If the parent's "qualify" to claim the student, it does not matter if the parents actually claim the student or not. The student must select the option for "I can be claimed on someone else's tax return" if the student is required to file a tax return.

The parents' have a choice. The student does not.

[MinhT1]

As your son is under 24 and a full-time student, you can claim him as a dependent if he did not provide for more than half of his own support. The test is to be done for the full year.

This test is different from the one requiring you to provide more than half of his support.

As for his rent, if he actually paid it, it is counted as him paying it even if you are co-signers.

Please read this TurboTax Help topic for more information.

[Hal_Al]

Q. When determining if he paid half his support do we figure for the whole year or just through August? 

A. The whole year.

Q. But since we were cosigners on both, do we count that as his own self support? 

A. Yes, since you didn't make any of the actual payments.

Scholarships are ignored in the support calculation.