Qualifying Dependent Child - Income

[gwgaston]

xmasbaby0 - Please put on your glasses. I had a screenshot about what is a Qualifying Child and that was a quote from an H&R site.

I'm really out. If it is fixed when I come back at the end of the month I may stick with it.

[xmasbaby0]

@gwgaston We are volunteers----not paid employees----and we are spending our time trying to help you.   So, you can take you snarky "put on your glasses" comment and go wherever you want.  I will make no further attempts to help you.

[gwgaston]

@xmasbaby0  - It wasn't snarky. You are clearly blind and I said "please". 

And you aren't helping me. Not even in the least. You are wasting time. 

[gwgaston]

For anyone who might find this topic via search, Intuit TurboTax team confirms this (as well as a few other related issues with Dependents) was a bug. They are working on it.

[Hal_Al]

@gwgaston said "Decide that a $500 deduction will not help me that much, and for student grant considerations perhaps it is best to let him file and state that no one can claim him as a dependent."

You're not allowed to do that. There is a rule that says IF somebody else CAN claim him as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim himself. If he has sufficient income (usually more than $14,600), he can & should still file taxes. In TurboTax, he indicates that somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information section.  TT will check that box on form 1040.

With the tax law change, effective 2018, most student-dependents will get the same refund whether they claim themselves or not. The personal exemption has been eliminated and the standard deduction increased. However, he only qualifies for an education credit or deduction, if he is not claimed as a dependent.

[gotaxes123]

I'm having the same issue. I have two kids in college, full time students, they live at home, I provide more than 50% of their support. TurboTax asks about the $5050 income limit and will consider them not dependents if income is greater. I have used TurboTax every year and never hit this issue before. It should be easy for the TurboTax team to reproduce this issue.

[Hal_Al]

gwgaston says TT has acknowledged a bug. But, I'm not seeing any bug in my desktop (download) Deluxe. 

If your full time, live at home students are under age 24, you will not get the $5050 income question if you answer the initial questions correctly.  Delete the dependent and re-enter.  If you still get the same result, reply back with how you answered each question in the interview. 

[cdcarlile]

I'm having the same problem! I read through all the responses and can't believe that TT is answering as if you made a mistake. Did you ever get a positive result that they have a bug in their software?

[2025Return]

I am having the the same problem.  It is definitely a TurboTax error.

[2025Return]

Instead of speculating, perhaps try filling out the form yourself. You will see that it is a TurboTax error. 

[bigbluesy]

Have you ever found a way around this bug/glitch? I’ve tried everything and those I’ve spoken to At TurboTax have tried to convince me that the problem is my fault and that I’m entering the info incorrectly. Looks like there’s a large number of us having the same issue, but getting someone to actually check for themselves has proven impossible.

[2025Return]

When it asks whether my child made $5,050, I answer no (which is not correct), but the end result seems to be correct.  I don’t think the incorrect answer is submitted to the IRS, so hopefully not a big deal to lie to Turbo Tax’s stupid program so long as it spits out the correct bottom line to the IRS.  I will not use TurboTax again, that is for sure. 

[bigbluesy]

I agree. This has been more than aggravating. Thanks for the reply.