topic College Student Dependent or Not Dependent in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

College Student Dependent or Not Dependent

ledettmsm — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 11:13:10 GMT

My offspring was a graduate student from Jan 2023 to May of 2023 and graduated the same month (May 2023). Form 1098-T has Box 8 checked. Full-time employment was started in August of 2023. How do I determine whether, my child is a dependent for tax purposes?

Re: College Student Dependent or Not Dependent

taxlady28 — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 01:15:35 GMT

Would need to be age 24 or younger at end of 2023.

Re: College Student Dependent or Not Dependent

DawnC — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 02:03:41 GMT

If he made over $4700 in 2023, you can't claim him as a dependent unless he was under age 24 as of Dec 31, 2023. If he was 24 or over, and had more than $4700 of income, he cannot be claimed by anyone. Who can I claim as a dependent?

A qualifying child can make any amount of money - but his age matters

A qualifying relative cannot make more than $4700

Re: College Student Dependent or Not Dependent

ledettmsm — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 02:09:03 GMT

To clarify "he cannot be claimed by anyone", does not refer to the "he"? Stated differently, the individual would file as single head of household filing their own taxes for Tax Year 2023.

Re: College Student Dependent or Not Dependent

DawnC — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 02:19:14 GMT

If you cannot claim your son, yes, he would file his own tax return. He will indicate whether he is married or unmarried. If he is unmarried, TurboTax will ask him the Head of Household questions to determine if he can use that filing status. You can qualify for Head of Household if you:

Were unmarried as of December 31, 2023, and
Paid more than half the cost to run your (or a qualifying parent's) home this year (rent, mortgage, utilities, etc.) and
Supported a qualifying person.

If he is unmarried and doesn't qualify for Head of Household, his filing status would just be Single.

Re: College Student Dependent or Not Dependent

Mike9241 — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 04:42:01 GMT

use IRS website where you can check to see if he qualifies as a dependent

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent