topic Re: Dependent Student in Education

Dependent Student

Xyzee — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 10:21:31 GMT

I have a hard time determining if my daughter qualifies as my dependent:

*she was 21 at the end of 2019

*I got 1098T with an amount in box 1 and box 8 checked as at least half-time student

*she earned more than $13,000 in 2019

*she lived with us the whole year and we covered 60% of her living expenses

Turbo Tax is asking if she was a FULL TIME student, to which I replied NO. This, together with her income, disqualifies her as our dependent.

I am confused - 1098T does not have a box for FULL time student. There are only 2 choices: at least half-time or graduate student. Yet to determine dependency status, IRS is asking if a person is a full time. It seems like if my child is not a full time student, she is not a student at all and therefore, given her age and earnings, not my dependent. And so I cannot claim education credit.

Turbo Tax also says that educational institutions have their own definitions of "full time". So how does IRS know what a particular college defines as "full time"?

Re: Dependent Student

Hal_Al — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 10:29:44 GMT

Bottom line: you can not claim the tuition credit or deduction because the student is not your dependent.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" [QR] in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). The student is not your QC because she is not a full time student. She is not your QR because her income is too high.

The 1098-T does not have a box for FULL time student, because half time is all that's need for the credit (full time is needed for QC dependency, but determining dependent status is not the purpose of the 1098-T).

Your daughter will be able to claim the education credit, on her return, even though you paid the expenses.

Re: Dependent Student

Xyzee — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 03:34:23 GMT

Thank you very much for clarifying it for me!