Form 8615 for self-supporting student who does not live with either parent

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September 6, 2019
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Sally is a fully self-supporting student age 19 whose earned income provides less than half of her support. She does not live with either parent for any part of the year. Is she required to file form 8615 with her tax return?

DoninGA

Level 15

From the IRS Instructions for Form 8615 - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8615.pdf

Who Must File

Form 8615 must be filed for anyone who meets all of the following conditions.

1. You had more than $2,100 of unearned income.
2. You are required to file a tax return.
3. You were either:

a. Under age 18 at the end of 2018,
b. Age 18 at the end of 2018 and didn’t have earned income that was more than half of your support, or
c. A full-time student at least age 19 and under age 24 at the end of 2018 and didn’t have earned income that was more than half of your support.

4. At least one of your parents was alive at the end of 2018.
5. You don’t file a joint return for 2018.

805teresaAuthor

Level 2

Yes, I read the instructions for 8615, but there is a tension between it and Publication 17. Publication 17, p. 201, under heading "Tax for Certain Children Who Have Unearned Income" says, "Special tax rates apply to certain DEPENDENT children with unearned income of $2100 or more" (my emphasis): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf. The instructions for from 8615 however explicitly state, "These rules also apply whether or not you're a dependent": https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8615.pdf. It seems unlikely that tax law dictates that a 19-year old unmarried student who fully supports herself and her parents on unearned income should be subject to trust rates simply because she has living (dependent) parents whereas a similarly situated 25-year old would be subject only to single-filer rates as would an otherwise similarly situated 19-year old whose parents were dead. But that is just what the instructions for form 8615 suggest. And that is in contrast to what publication 17 suggests. It would be very nice to know whether it is publication 17 or the instructions for form 8615 that is in need of revision. (Maybe they both are. Maybe Publication 17 should say "qualifying children" instead of "dependent children" and form 8615 should say "qualifying child" instead of "anyone"?) I don't know how to get a definitive answer to this. Any insight you have would be appreciated. Thank you.

DoninGA

Level 15

The Instructions for 8615 also state These rules also apply whether or not you’re a dependent.

As far as being a dependent -

You can be claimed as a dependent if you meet the requirements under the Qualifying Child rules, IRS Publication 501 page 12 - https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf#page=12

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.

Carl

Level 11

Sally is a fully self-supporting student age 19....

This is a classic test question straight from the quizlet.com website. We don't answer test questions for students here. You'll need to do your own research and if you start at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/fafsa/filling-out/dependency you'll actually be able to find it yourself.

805teresaAuthor

Level 2

I've never heard of quizlet until just now. This is a real-life situation. I guess that I shouldn't have initially worded my question in a way that managed to make it sound like a homework problem. I put it that way in an effort to avoid giving all the personal details that I eventually wound up giving. I hope you can understand. The link that you provided is to information about student aid—specifically concerning what it is to be a "dependent student for FAFSA purposes". I definitely AM a dependent student for FAFSA purposes. But, it's relevance to my tax question is in no way obvious. (I definitely AM NOT a dependent student for tax purposes.) So, I’m guessing you meant to post a different link. Otherwise, what you did would be like telling someone who wants to know if her AGI is low enough that she can contribute to a Roth IRA to look at the definition of "modified AGI for the purposes of the Child Tax Credit" instead of at the definition of "modified AGI for Roth IRA purposes". The two definitions of 'modified AGI' are very different Only the second has any obvious relevance to the Roth IRA question. If you did mean to post a different link, please post it. If not, then maybe you can tell me (now that you know I'm not a student looking for an answer to a test question) how you think the FAFSA definition is relevant to my tax question.