Full-time student qualification

[SarapDadTT]

Hello.  My son currently lives 1/2 of half of the year with me and 1/2 of the year with his mother.  He graduated from high school in June 2021 and was enrolled as a full-time student at a community college starting in August of 2021.   He is currently 19 years old.  Does he qualify as a full-time student in 2021? 

Thanks

[Mike9241]

you didn't provide enough information.  it is in the institution that determines what is full time.  what the IRS says is that to be full-time, the student must be enrolled full-time during any part of 5  months during the year.

[SarapDadTT]

Yes,  the community college does stipulate the number of credits that a student must take in order to be considered full vs part time and he met this minimum requirement.    Additionally,  he attended high school from January through June of 2021 as a full time high school student. 

[Cynthiad66]

.@SarapDadT

Based on the information provided he is considered a full time student.  To be considered a full-time student, the child must be enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full time and must be a student for at least five months during the year.  In a nutshell, you can usually claim your college student as a dependent if they're a full-time student at a qualifying school and they meet the IRS guidelines.  

[Carl]

He graduated from high school in June 2021

So for the first semester of 2021 (which is the 2nd semester of his high school senior year) he was a full time student. That alone is enough.

and was enrolled as a full-time student at a community college starting in August of 2021.

So for the 2nd semester of 2021 (1st semester of his college freshman year) he was also enrolled as a full time student.

Of the five requirements, he meets the one that states he was enrolled as a full time student at an accredited institution (high school is an accredited institution) for "any one semester" that started in the tax year.

Also, if your son will be filing a tax return, he must select the option for "I can be claimed on someone else's return" if he qualifies by either parent to be claimed as a dependent.

Note the key word here is "QUALIFY". It does not matter if the parent(s) claim him as a dependent or not. If the parent(s) "QUALIFY" to claim him, then the student must select the option for "I can be claimed on someone else's return".

The parent(s) have a choice here. The student does not have a choice.