Sorry for the long post, I tried to provide all relevant details.
I am trying to figure out if my son has to check the box "someone can claim you as a dependent". It would be to his advantage NOT to check it, and it makes very little difference to me, so we would prefer if he did not need to check the box. However, given his situation it is not entirely clear to me if I can claim him or not. Here are the gory details:
- He graduated from college in May and immediately started a PhD.
- His Phd is funded by a research fellowship from the NSF. The NSF pays his tuition directly to the university, and in addition pays him a living stipend (The living stipend is taxable, but I believe it is considered unearned income).
- In 2023 he did not pay any tuition at all (His spring undergraduate semester was paid in December of 2022, and his fall PhD tuition was entirely covered by the fellowship).
- His living expenses, including rent, food, clothing, entertainment, etc, were $38,700
- In addition, tuition paid in 2023 was $15,200 (for the fall semester)
- We (parents) contributed $20,100
- Fellowship stipends gave him another $14,500
- He paid $4,100 on his own.
- The fellowship fully covered the $15,200 in tuition.
So, first test, covering 50% of his living expenses: I don't know if I should include the $15,200 in tuition among his expenses. If I include tuition, then we definitely did not pay more than 50% of his expenses and cannot claim him. I know tuition DOES count, but I believe Scholarships don't count as "support" for this test (I am not sure if the fellowship counts as a scholarship?). So, do I include the $15,200 of tuition among his living expenses? If I do, then that answers the question and we're done :-).
If I cannot include tuition, the second test is whether he lived more than half the year with me. From January through July he was an undergraduate and rented an apartment at school in CA (a different state from where we live). In August he moved cities to start his Phd, rented a new apartment (also in CA) and started the process to become a CA resident (which is required by his new school). So, physically, other than limited travel for vacation, he spent all year living in CA. For the second half of the year it is clear he is now living as a CA resident and no longer lives with me. But for the first half, since he lived in a different state as an undergraduate student, is this considered "temporary" and therefore he was technically still living at home? Did he, or did he not live more than 6 months with me? The total rent for both apartments is included in the $38,700 of his living expenses, so he paid rent in CA for all 12 months of the year.
Any guidance will be appreciated!
