Im 23, graduated college May 27th 2016, my parents provided over half my support for the year, can they claim me on their return? I also had earned income of $23000

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

Yes, if you lived with them (including time at school) for more than half the year.

Graduation year (worded to answer a parent asking the question)

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. The rule is that a child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” dependent, regardless of  his income, if:

1. he is a full time student under 24 for at least 5 calendar months of the year (graduating in May usually means you meet the 5 month rule)

2. he did not provide more than 1/2 his own support  (scholarships are considered 3rd party support and not support provided by the student). 

3. lived with the parent (including time away at school) for more than half the year

So, it usually hinges on  "Did he provide more than 1/2 his own support in 2016.

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

[SherekaB]

Yes. Since you are under age 24 the amount you made does not matter since you were a full time student. Jan-May would count as full time. You are just required to attend classes one day out of each of those months to be considered full time.

You can be claimed as a dependent as long as you can answer YES to these questions:

• Do they meet the age requirement? Your child must be under age 19 or, if a full-time student, under age 24. There is no age limit if your child is permanently and totally disabled.
• Do they live with you? Your child must live with you for more than half the year, but several exceptions apply. Being away for school does not change the child's permanent home address and they still qualify as being in the home.
• Do you financially support them? Your child may have a job, but that job cannot provide more than half of her support. Income amount does not matter when a full time student.
  
• Are you the only person claiming them? This requirement commonly applies to children of divorced parents. Here you must use the “tie breaker rules,” which are found in IRS Publication 501. These rules establish income, parentage and residency requirements for claiming a child.

Since you made more than $6,300 you would need to file your own return even though you are a dependent. Be sure to select that someone else can claim you as a dependent.