Dependent college Student but worked some in 2023

[toniateaka]

My son is freshman in college and he also earned money working n 2023  Can I still claim him as dependent.  He lives at home with me and I pay over 80% of his expenses.

[DoninGA]

Assuming that he is a full time student under the age of 24, if he has earnings as an employee of less than $13,850 in 2023 he does not need to file a federal tax return.  If your state has a personal income tax then you need to check with the state on the filing requirements.

If he had federal income taxes withheld from his wages he should file a federal return to get a refund of the taxes withheld.  If he does file a return then he must indicate an his return that he can be claimed as a dependent.

If he is not an employee and is self-employed and has income of $400 or more then he is required to file a federal tax return to report his self-employment income and expenses.  He would use Schedule C for the income and expenses.  Schedule C is included with the federal tax return, Form 1040.

[DoninGA]

You should be able to claim him as a dependent under the Qualifying Child rules if he meets all the requirements under the rules.

To be a Qualifying Child -

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.
7. The child must be younger than you unless disabled.

[JandKit]

Hi toniateaka,

I see that your son is a freshman in college this year. Is it possible that he took time off before attending school? Is he older than 18? These questions would assist in giving an accurate answer to your question. In general, a parent may claim a child who is absent mainly for attending college and is age 19 up to but not including age 24 can be your dependent.

Certainly having paid more than 80% of his expenses would qualify. If your son is in the listed category above, you can claim him as your dependent and claim the higher education deduction as well as long as your son is in school at least half time and the  expenses incurred for attending school exceeds any grants or scholarships that he received.

Goodluck to you in this endeavor!!!

[toniateaka]

He earned his money through Venmo from working with his father.  Since taxes were not taken out of his pay does that mean he need to file a Federal Return and can I still claim him as dependent?

[DoninGA]

---

@toniateaka wrote:

He earned his money through Venmo from working with his father.  Since taxes were not taken out of his pay does that mean he need to file a Federal Return and can I still claim him as dependent?

---

You can still claim him as a dependent under the Qualifying Child rules as long as he has lived in your home for at least six months and he has not provided for over one-half of his own support and all the other requirements under the rules.

If his father did not withhold any type of taxes from his income, such as federal income taxes, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes then he was self-employed and has to report his income on a federal return if he earned $400 or more for the year.

When filing his return he would still enter on his return that he can be claimed as a dependent.