My daughter has just graduated high school and is getting a federal student loan and I am getting a parent plus student loan for her. Will I be able to claim her on my taxes as a college student. She also works between 18 to 26 hours per week at her job. If I can claim her how will she need to file her own tax return.
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Hi MC4C! She will only need to file if she earned over $12,550 in 2021 if employed or $400 if she was an independent contractor. She will file her own return but just mark that she is being claimed by another taxpayer as a dependent. While she may not need to file, she may be eligible to get a refund based on the witholding she paid during her employment.
It is likely you can take her a dependant but you may have to do some calculations. Here is the detail.
A dependant is defined as either a qualifying child or a qualifying relative. To be a qualifying child under a student must meet four tests:
Also your daughter cannot be married and file a joint return and must be a U.S. citizen or resident.
If your child gets a job and and uses these funds to provide at least half of her own financial support, you can’t claim the child as a tax dependant. However, support generally includes household expenses such as rent, groceries, utilities, clothing, unreimbursed medical expenses, travel costs and recreation expenses.
The situation becomes more complicated when taking out loans to cover the cost of education. The cost of education is considered part of your duaghter's support. When the student obtains a loan that he or she is obligated to repay, those amounts are considered support provided by the student. If parents borrow money that they are obligated to repay, the funds are considered provided by the parents.
If you want to go through a detailed calculatione the IRS provides a worksheet: Worksheet for Determining Support
As for her own tax return: If she is your dependant she will file her own tax return and select "someone can claim me as a dependant". If you determine she does not qualify she would file using Single as her filing status.
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