26 year old son shows as dependent

[AsifN]

In Person Info section, I went through the questions:

1. 26 year old son

2. Selected that he lived with me whole year while he is a full-time medical school student

3. He is not married

4. He has ZERO income so I answered no to $5050 income question

5. I, as a parent, paid for more than half of his support last year

He shows as "Dependent" in the list of children in PERSON INFO section. I was expecting to see "Qualifying Relative" since he is over 24. Is this normal at this point in Turbo Tax?

[xmasbaby0]

He is a qualifying relative and you should be seeing the $500 credit for other dependents on line 19 of your Form 1040 for him.

[JohnB5677]

I understand the question, and the circumstance.

• I do agree that that age issue will make him a qualifying relative, but for tax purposes there is no difference.
• You can continue to file your taxes with confidence.
• I will forward this post for review.

[AsifN]

A related question... he wants to file taxes this year even though there was no income in 2024. He says the reason is that he will apply for FAFSA at the end of the year and if IRS has no data about him, he won't be able to complete his FAFSA and it may impact his loans. Not sure if any of that is true, but if he does file, should he select YES to the question when TT asks if he can be claimed as a dependent? 

[AnnetteB6]

Yes, for tax purposes he is considered to be a dependent whether showing as a qualifying child or a qualifying relative.

@AsifN 

[AsifN]

Thank for your responses. Last question and this may not be the right place to ask but I will ask it anyway because I am sure many have been in similar situations. 

Does him being a qualifying relative (dependent) on my taxes have any implications on his "independent" status on the FAFSA application? Will he be able to file for FAFSA as an independent student without providing parents information?

[BrittanyS]

Yes, if he is claimed as a dependent he would be considered an dependent student and will be required to show the parents income on his FASFA form.  Per FASFA, "Your dependency status determines whose information you must report when you fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form.  If you’re a dependent student, you will report your and your parents’ information.  If you’re an independent student, you will report your own information (and, if you’re married, your spouse’s).

A dependent student is assumed to have the support of parents, so the parents’ information must be assessed along with the student’s information to get a full picture of the family’s financial resources. If you’re a dependent student, it doesn’t mean your parents are required to pay anything toward your education; this information is simply used to determine your maximum eligibility for federal student aid."

See the link below for more information:

• Dependency Status

@AsifN 

[AsifN]

The above information provided doesn't seem to be accurate. The same link you provided has a questionnaire at the bottom of the page that says answering any question as "Yes" would qualify you as an independent on the FAFSA application. Well, he answer yes to the very first one about the ager. Also, I have seen references to the verbiage that seems to suggest that FAFSA independency status has nothing to do with IRS dependent qualification.  

[KeshaH]

Tax dependency generally doesn't impact whether or not a student is an independent student for FAFSA purposes. The IRS and ED use different definitions of "dependent". Since your son is over the age of 23, he will generally be considered an independent student even if he is claimed as a tax dependent. 

[AsifN]

That is my understanding as well. Thank you for confirming