Dependent Status

[lindsaycs87]

I just learned that my father is claiming me as a dependent on his tax return, so I want to know whether that's possible for him to do or if I can still claim myself as an independent. The situation is this: My parents are separated, and I live with my mother who is a retired homemaker in a house with no mortgage/rent, but my father pays utilities and property taxes. She receives half her income in monthly stipends from him, and the other half in social security income. I am over 25, earned over $30K in 2016, pay my own car payments/insurance and phone bill, help pay for groceries, and paid about $7K in tuition (I am going to school part-time while working full-time and paying all my tuition from my own income). I don't know if he files jointly or claims my mother as a dependent (is it possible to do both?). So can he claim me as a dependent, and if he does, can I dispute it? Thank you for your help with this, it seems like a bit of a tangle.

[TomD8 · Accepted solution]

At your age and with your gross income well over the limit of $4050, no one can claim you as a dependent, including your father.