I'm considering not claiming my 21 yr old college student as a dependent any longer. Not sure what the ramifications would be to my taxes / refund though.

I contribute very little to her now, and I think she'd get more student financial aid if I ceased to claim her. Any thoughts or information on this?

posted

She cannot claim herself if you *can* claim yer even if you do not claim her - the tax law does not permit that.

In fact there are special questions just for that in the personal information section: 1) CAN you be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer?; and 2) Were (or will you be) claimed by that taxpayer?

If #1 is yes then the student cannot claim them self.

If #1 is yes and #2 is no, then the student still cannot claim them self but there are certain educational credits normally claimed by the parent that the student can claim. That is the only difference.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**