A parent, who I'm not reported as a dependent of, transferred, from overseas, over $50k. Can or should I report this?

[bennee12]

I'm a US resident and the parent isn't a US resident. This was a one-time transfer, so it wasn't regular. I used it partially for High School fees and partially as my own personal expenses. My parent wants me to report this on my tax return to prove I'm "financially independent". Would also be nice to know if this amount qualifies as my income.

[Opus 17]

Gifts are never taxable income under US tax laws, no matter who the giver is.  You are required to report gifts from foreign persons if the amount is more than $100,00 per year and from foreign corporations if the amount is more than $14,000 per year.  This is reported on form 3520, which is not supported by TurboTax.  You don’t need to report this gift but if you did, you would have to download the form from the IRS and do it yourself.  

You can’t be claimed as a dependent if you don’t live with your parents, even if they file a US tax return for some reason.  If you are trying to prove financial independence for some other reason, this won’t help you.  You don’t and can’t report it as income because it was a gift.  

[Texas Roger]

Gifts are not taxable and not reported on your tax return. They are also not earned income for the purpose of getting credits related to earned income. 

You must report gifts from foreign persons on a separate form 3520 that is not part of your tax return if the total gifts exceed $100,000. Since your gift was only $50,000, you would not report it using form 3520. 

What is your alien status? If you are a non resident alien, you cannot use TurboTax to prepare your tax return because non resident aliens must file a 1040NR which TurboTax doesn't support.  See this IRS article for determining your status if you don't know what it is: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/determining-alien-tax-status

Here are the instructions for tax form 1040NR if you need to file it: https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040nr