If we cosigned on my son's college lease and he pays all the rent, does that count as him supporting himself when determining whether he is a dependent?

[jul28]

He was a 23 yr old full time college student. We cosigned on his lease in August 2021 and he paid all of the actual rent August through December. Since we are cosigners on the lease, does the rental payments he made count towards the amount we consider to determine if he paid half his expenses for the year?

[Vanessa A]

Yes, this would be counted as part of paying his own expenses. Is this his permanent residence or does he come back home for holidays and summer?  If it is just temporary student housing and you are maintaining his primary home then you would still count his permanent home as cost of his support.

[jul28]

Thank you. He will be at law school for 3 years. He will be home for holidays and random weekends, but most likely remain there for a summer internship, unless he gets an internship closer to home. Through August he lived at home and we fully supported him. He worked and saved. He actually ended up with 2 leases we consigned on and he was paying for because he started one school with a scholarship, but one week into living near his 1st college he got a full scholarship from his dream college, withdrew from the first college and we consigned on a 2nd lease near the 2nd school that he played full rent on. So, 2 leases he was paying on at the same time for a few months! In determining if he paid half his expenses for the year, I'm thinking him paying 2 rents will out total how much we spent towards his living expenses for the year possibly?? Our mortgage is paid off, so our living expenses contribution for that is rental fair market value. Plus, utilities, etc. I assume we figure all of that for the whole year, or is it just when he lived here? Thanks for all your help.

[Cynthiad66]

Also, if he is filing a tax return he may claim himself as a dependent.  If he claims himself then you cannot claim him .  Figure out the most advantageous tax break because the person that claims the dependent may also be entitled to ATOC Education Tax Credit.

Sounds like your son had scholarships so there may not be an ATOC credit available.  The American opportunity credit (ATOC) allows taxpaying students or their parents the opportunity to reduce the cost of attending college. 

Based on the information you provided, I agree with you that your son is most likely providing more than 50% of his total support.

The IRS defines a dependent as a qualifying child under age 19 (or under 24 if a full-time student) or a qualifying relative who makes less than $4,300 a year (tax year 2021). A qualifying dependent may have a job, but you must provide more than half of their annual support.