topic My girlfriend is in beauty school how will this affect my refund? in Education

My girlfriend is in beauty school how will this affect my refund?

brayphillips99 — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 02:22:48 GMT

Re: My girlfriend is in beauty school how will this affect my refund?

Critter — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 02:49:14 GMT

It has no effect on your return.

Re: My girlfriend is in beauty school how will this affect my refund?

xmasbaby0 — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 03:27:24 GMT

Why do you think your GF being in beauty school affects your tax return or your refund?

Re: My girlfriend is in beauty school how will this affect my refund?

VolvoGirl — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 04:24:24 GMT

Are you asking if you can claim her as a dependent? She has to live with you the whole year and have less than 4,200 total income.

Re: My girlfriend is in beauty school how will this affect my refund?

rjs — Tue, 17 Dec 2019 04:41:46 GMT

Your girlfriend being in beauty school might affect your refund if you can claim her as a dependent.

For you to be able to claim your girlfriend as a dependent, all of the following statements must be true.

She does not meet the requirements to be a qualifying child of her parents or anyone else.
She lived with you for the entire year - all 365 days.
Her gross income for the year (2019) is less than $4,200.
You provided more than half of her total support for the year.
She is a U.S. citizen or resident alien, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
She does not file a joint return with her spouse (if she is married to someone else at the end of 2019).
No one can claim you as a dependent (whether or not they actually do claim you).

(Note to anyone else reading this: This is not a complete description of the requirements for claiming someone as a dependent. It is specific to the situation described in the question.)

If any of the statements listed above is not true, you cannot claim your girlfriend as a dependent, and nothing that she does affects your tax return or your refund.

If you can claim her as a dependent, there are two ways that it might increase your refund. The first is that claiming her as a dependent might allow you to claim the Credit for Other Dependents, which might increase your refund. The second way is that you might be able to claim the Lifetime Learning Credit for the tuition that you or she pays to the school, if she gets a Form 1098-T from the school.

There are specific requirements for both the Credit for Other Dependents and the Lifetime Learning Credit. TurboTax will ask you questions to determine whether or not you can claim either credit.

Re: My girlfriend is in beauty school how will this affect my refund?

Hal_Al — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 01:31:18 GMT

If you can claim her as a dependent, you may even qualify for the more generous American Opportunity Credit (AOC) Tuition , instead of the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC). You qualify for the AOC, if she was, at least, a half time student and the school issues a recognized educational credential.

To claim an education credit, on your dependent, it is not actually required that you paid her tuition, only that tuition was paid. But tuition paid by her (including by student loans) or her parents, counts against you for the dependent support test (that you provided more than half of her total support for the year).