Can my parents claim me as a dependent?

[teselfe]

I'm 21 years old and I'm a full time student, but I haven't lived at my parents house in almost 3 years and they do NOT provide over half of my support. I pay for my rent, my power bill, my cell phone bill, my food, my health insurance, everything. The only bill they pay is my car insurance (roughly $100/mo). Can they still claim me as a dependent? Everything that I've seen seems to say that they can't but my dad's accountant swears that because I'm under 24 and a full time student, he can still claim me. 

[WillK · Accepted solution]

In order for your parents to be able to claim you as a dependent,  all of the following must be true:

Relationship — the taxpayer’s child or stepchild (whether by blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or stepsibling, or a descendant of one of these.

Residence — has the same principal residence as the taxpayer for more than half the tax year. Exceptions apply, in certain cases, for children of divorced or separated parents, kidnapped children, temporary absences, and for children who were born or died during the year.

 Age — must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year, or under the age of 24 if a full-time student for at least five months of the year, or be permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year.

Support — did not provide more than one-half of his/her own support for the year.

Since you stated that you have supported yourself (paying for more than 1/2 of your support), then No, they cannot claim you and you can filed your own return as an independent. 

[TomD8]

If your parents have already filed their return, you should print and mail your own return.  If you e-file it, it'll be rejected if the system already has received another return with your SSN on it.