can someone help me think through this, please? my spouse and i file jointly and we have claimed our full time college student son (currently 23) as a dependent in recent years (have not yet filed for 2020). is there any relationship between whether we claim him in 2020 and the latest stimulus and whether he would receive the $1400 aid? his income in each of the last two years was under $10K/year. he did not receive any prior stimulus. my spouse and my joint income is over $160K (so i don't believe my spouse or i would qualify for latest stimulus). so i am trying to figure out whether we should continue to claim him as a dependent or if there is an overall family benefit by NOT claiming him IF that would allow him to receive the stimulus. Or maybe one has nothing to do with the other? thank you very much for your thoughts and guidance.
You do not pick and choose whether you claim your son as a dependent.
If he is under 24 and a full time student and you provide more than half of his support for the tax year, you can claim him as a dependent. If you do not claim him, then you lose the Other dependent credit of $500 and you cannot claim his education credit from his form 1098-T.
On his own tax return, he is asked the question whether he paid more than half of his own support. If the answer is No, then he has to say that he can claimed as a dependent by someone else. And he will not be eligible for the first two stimulus payments. As someone who can be claimed as a dependent but is not actually claimed, he can claim the non-refundable part of the American Opportunity credit, but not the refundable part.
You do not pick and choose whether you claim your son as a dependent.
If he is under 24 and a full time student and you provide more than half of his support for the tax year, you can claim him as a dependent. If you do not claim him, then you lose the Other dependent credit of $500 and you cannot claim his education credit from his form 1098-T.
On his own tax return, he is asked the question whether he paid more than half of his own support. If the answer is No, then he has to say that he can claimed as a dependent by someone else. And he will not be eligible for the first two stimulus payments. As someone who can be claimed as a dependent but is not actually claimed, he can claim the non-refundable part of the American Opportunity credit, but not the refundable part.