First time filer

BlueThorness — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 05:59:18 GMT

This was my 21-year-old college student's first-time filing and involved a lot of firsts:

- her first job

- including her scholarships and grants (which exceeded her college expenses)

- she receives money from the national and state VA's for her education

I tried playing with the TurboTax software, to see if claiming her as a dependent would affect her refund, as she was showing that she owed tax, due to having scholarships and grants that exceeded her college costs, which were untaxed. From what I could tell, it didn't affect her refund or mine, if I chose to claim her as a dependent or not.

I ended up claiming her as a dependent, in case it would affect her FAFSA, in the future, but I'm wondering if doing so left her with more tax liability than it should have.

What would have been the best way for each of us to file, under these circumstances, since I know it will be an issue again, next year?

Re: First time filer

xmasbaby0 — Wed, 05 Apr 2023 20:53:46 GMT

Sorry---there is no element of choice. The rule is that if your child CAN be claimed as a dependent then she must say on her own return that someone else can claim her. And....whether you actually claim her or not does not affect the fact that she must say she can be claimed.

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First time filer

Re: First time filer