We have twins that graduated the last Sat in April and the other the first Sat of May 2024. Turbo tax is wondering if their info remained the same as last year. They both either lived at school or at home, until they graduated they were full time students per their universities and they did not provide over 1/2 their support. Do I keep it as the info is the same or do I need to update the info? Thanks for clarification
Q. Do I keep it as the info is the same or do I need to update the info?
A. You need to update both.
You need to update both, the April graduate, in particular. He/she does not meet the 5 month rule for being a full time student. So, both the income and support rules will change, from QC to QR*. For the May grad, it matters how long he continued to live with you, after graduation.
Can the student be claimed as a dependent in the Graduation year?
If he/she was a student (under 24) for at least 5 months and lived with you for more than half the year, and did not provide more than 1/2 his own support for the whole year, you can still claim him. Be sure he knows you're claiming him, so he doesn't claim himself. He can only be claimed once. But, he can "file taxes" without claiming his own exemption.
The real question is who should be claiming him in this "transition" year to adulthood. You two have to agree on who is going to claim his exemption. Each should do their taxes both ways and see which way the family comes out best. Even then, you have to meet the rules.
There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit.
The rule is that a child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” dependent, regardless of his income, if:
So, it usually hinges on "Did he provide more than 1/2 his own support in 2024.
The support value of the home you provided is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants. IRS Publication 501 on page 20 has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf (page 15)
*There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit.
The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative (QR) is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.
See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Return/INF12139.html