College

[Lyn115]

My kid graduated college in the spring.   She stayed there abs now lives in a different state.  She pays$1000 rent monthly.  I payed $ 800 towards her college.  Is she technically a dependant now?  And how do I claim the $ 800  I paid for her tuition? 

[xmasbaby0]

The year of college graduation is a little bit tricky.    How old will she be at the end of 2024?   Did you pay for over half her support?   How much income did she have in 2024?   And...as for the money you paid--you say you paid $800 for tuition----unless she is a dependent on your tax return you cannot enter anything about that.

Not sure why you are mentioning her rent.  Rent is not a qualified education expense.

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2023 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

• They're related to you.
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).
• No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.
• They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
• They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

Qualifying relative

• They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They lived with you the entire year (exceptions apply).
• They made less than $4,700 in 2023.   (For 2024 —  $5050)
• You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a dependent.

Related Information:

• What does "financially support another person" mean?
• What is a "qualifying person" for Head of Household?

[Opus 17]

If your child was a full time student for part of at least 5 months (Jan-May), then she is still a full time student for dependent status.  

If she "lives at home" for more than half the year, then she could still qualify as a dependent. When a child is away at college, they are usually considered to "live at home" because college is a temporary absence and the child can still be expected to return home for vacations, summer break, etc.  But if the child has permanently moved out and established a new home, then they don't live at home any more, and if they lived "at home" less than half they year, they don't qualify as a dependent.

If she was a full time student for 5 months AND can still be considered to live at home, then you have to think about the support test.  But if she doesn't pass the student or live at home test, you don't have to calculate support because she doesn't qualify on other grounds. 

[Carl]

Colleges work in academic years, while the IRS works in calendar years. So the reality is, it takes five calendar years to get that four year degree. Typically, any and all credits are claimed in the first four calendar years. With the year they graduate (in the spring) being the 5th calendar year, credits such as the AOTC have already been claimed the maximum 4 years. That's why it's generally best to pay for that final semester in the tax year before that final semester starts, since most education expenses are claimed in the tax year they are actually paid.

For the graduate to qualify as your dependent in that 5th calendar year, that student must "not" have paid for more than half of their own support for the entire calendar year. Note that scholarships, grants, money from parents, etc. "DO NOT" count for the student having provided their own support. There are only two possible ways the student could justify a claim to having provided more than half of their own support for the entire tax year.
1) The student was self-employed or had a W-2 job and earned enough money to justify their claim to providing more than half of their own support for the entire tax year.

2) The student was the *primary* borrower on a qualified student loan and sufficient funds were distributed to the student during the tax year to justify a claim to them having provided more than half of their own support.

Take special note that there is no requirement for the parent(s) to have provided "any" support. Not one penny. The requirement is on the student, and only the student.

So if the support requirement is met (meaning the student did not provide more than half of their own support for the entire year) and the other four requirements are met, the student will qualify as your dependent. While this is not all that common in the 5th calendar year of their education, it's not unheard of either.

[Hal_Al]

Q. My kid graduated college in the spring.   She stayed there and now lives in a different state. Is she technically a dependent now? 

A.  No.  More accurately, most likely no. She cannot be a "Qualifying Child" dependent, anymore, because she did not live with you (apparently) for more than half the year.  She cannot be a "Qualifying Relative" dependent because (I assume) she had more than $5050 of income for 2024 and you (apparently) didn't provide more than half her support, for the year. 

Q. How do I claim the $ 800  I paid for her tuition? 

A.  Since she is not your dependent, you cannot claim an education credit.  But, she can claim it on her return*. A special rule, for education expenses, allows this, even though she didn't actually pay it. 

*Graduation year is usually the 5th calendar/tax year for a student and her parents.  There is a 4 time  limit  for claiming the generous American Opportunity credit (AOC or AOTC).  This means if the parents previously claimed the AOC four times, the student will only be allowed the lesser Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC) for 2024.