Dependent or not?

[joelrlevy]

Prior to 2025, our child (turned 19 in August) was clearly a dependent as she was a full-time student, which we claimed (although she did have to file her own return due to income).

2025 was a mixed bag.  She was a full-time student until mid-April (100% supported by us).  From mid-April to mid-July she had a paid (barely) internship that was under the auspices of the school (probably 90% supported by us).  From mid-July to the end of August, she was 100% supported by us while she applied for jobs.  From September to the end of the year, she was full-time employed, although we still supported her at about 20% (pastry chefs in NYC just don't make that much).

Dependent or not for 2025?

[Mike9241]

 one test for her to be a dependent under the qualifying child rules (see meets the other rules)  in 2025 is that she must be a full-time student (under 24 on 12/31/2025). Full-time means she must be enrolled full-time for any part of 5 months in 2025. The question is whether or not she was a full-time student during any month in her internship. If yes, she's your dependent for 2025.

If she was not a full-time student during at least one month of her internship, she might qualify as a dependent under the qualifying relative rules. 

the key rule here (the others are met)  is that her gross income must be less than $5,200 for 2025

[Bsch4477]

Yes, if her internship earned school credits. In that case she was a full time student for the year. Did she live with you more than half of the year with school counting as time at home?

[joelrlevy]

Thank you for the replies.  I guess I should have gone in to a little more detail on the actual question.

I understand the basic rules for a dependent. And no, she would not qualify for dependent as dependent relative as her income is too high.  The question was centered around the definition of full-time student, specifically does the internship count as being a student.  Here is a clause in the internship contract that makes me think it would count (note: the contract is 3-way between our daughter, the employer, and the school, ENSP): "Article IV: Status and Obligation of Student - During his/her internship, the intern remains under the authority and responsibility of ENSP but should be inscribed by the host organization in the specific section of the host company’s Individual Registry of Personnel. "

Thoughts?

[Bsch4477]

You are correct that whether she is considered a student during her internship is the issue. She was a student if she received school credit for the internship. Otherwise maybe not. You could ask the school whether she was a student during that time. Tax law actually states that it is the school that determines whether the student is full time.