Qualifying for Recovery Rebate for FT College student and his depenent status declared

[HeynaOrNo]

Does my 21 year old son have to select the option in the  Standard Deduction section : Someone CAN claim you:  "As a dependent"  box  just because while that's true (being a full-time college student in 2020), but we (his parents) aren't going to have him as a dependent on our return, so that he can earn the Recovery Rebate on his 2020 taxes.

It seems that by the answers (in TURBOTAX on Federal Income Worksheet)   that if  on my son's return if he selects YES to the "Dependent of someone else" , and NO to "Was the taxpayer claimed as a dependent on that person,s return"  that he should be able to receive the $1800 rebates.  He didn't receive an recovery or economic impact payments  automatically since he was declared as our dependent on our and his 2019 returns.  He made $10,000 in income in 2020.   The only way TURBOTAX gives him the $1800 is if he says NO to the Dependent of someone else question from the get go.  What's going on?

[xmasbaby0]

What's going on is this----do you want your son to file honestly and correctly?   The rule is that if he CAN be claimed as a dependent then he is supposed to say on his own return that he can be claimed as someone else's dependent.   That does not mean the person WILL claim him, just that he CAN be claimed.   If he CAN be claimed then he is not legally eligible for the stimulus check, however much he wants to receive it.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/dependents/help/when-do-i-have-to-answer-yes-to-being-claimed-as-a...

[DanaB27 · Accepted solution]

Please be aware that as a requirement to qualify for the Recovery Rebate Credit you cannot be claimed as a dependent by someone else. Therefore, if your son meets the requirements to be your dependent then he won't qualify for the Recovery Rebate Credit even if you decide not to claim him.

"You are not eligible for the Recovery Rebate Credit if any of the following applies:

• You may be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer’s 2020 return (for example, a child or student who may be claimed on a parent’s return or a dependent parent who may be claimed on an adult child’s return)."  (IRS FAQ Recovery Rebate Credit )

[HeynaOrNo]

I wonder what would happen if said college student was estranged from his family.  Would they still have to confirm yes they could be a dependent?  Them then being denied certainly wouldn't seem to be the sentiment of the rebate's purpose, would it?  Certainly seems like a boy-scout test discriminator.

[DanaB27]

It that case, the requirement that the child didn't provide more than half of their own support will become the issue if the parents can claim the student as a dependent.

The student would have to use this Worksheet for Determining Support to see if he/she provided more than half of his/her own support. If the student did then the parents cannot claim the student.

Please see Dependency Exemption Issues for College Students for a detailed discussion on this subject.

[Rozzy_pj]

Thank you for this clarification.  In my situation as a family we would get more from the tax return and recovery payment if my college student was not a dependent.  But you have clarified that IF THEY CAN be claimed, they MUST check that box on their return.  When we do this, again we do not qualify for the third stimulus check and do best as a family by claiming the student as a dependent.  Thanks for clarifying this question. 

[sm168]

If my full-time college student checked "can be claimed as dependent" even though we won't claim him, but also provided himself more than half of support with earned income, does he then qualify for Recovery Rebate?  This gets hairy, so I'd like to make sure.

[WendyN2]

If he checked off that he "could be (can be) claimed as a dependent of another" but already knows that you will not be claiming him, he should uncheck this box as this does not really apply to him. This is more for those who truly are not sure if someone else (parent, grandparent, etc.) that "can" claim them will actually be claiming them for a specific tax year. Again, since he knows you will not be claiming him, he should just uncheck that box and check the box that asks about the 50% or more. That will ensure the system accurately transmits the proper information to the IRS and then he will (provided all else allows him to) receive the 3rd stimulus payment. Make sure to tell him to provide the banking information that he wishes to use for both any refund due to him as well as to make sure that the stimulus payment goes to the bank and does not get mailed out. As it is looking right now, this could take many months to get to taxpayers. 

[HeynaOrNo]

Hi,

Thank you.  So originally my confusion over is he a dependent or not was that I didnt know how to regard 529 plan & covedell proceeds ownerships when determining if we provide under or over 50% (along with his income) .  Looking at that closer I believe he no longer qualified as a dependent for my return, so we coordinated and I think accurately answered our situation.  Initially I thought we could (still) claim him...which then the whole bifurcate questioning puzzled me.

[ReneeM7122]

Correct, if your son is your dependent, he wouldn't have been eligible for a stimulus payment.  However be aware that for the third stimulus payment, the rules are different.  One notable difference from the first two stimulus is that you will receive stimulus payments for all your dependents, including adult dependents and college students.

To find out if you are eligible and how much you can expect, visit our stimulus calculator