My 19-year-old daughter is a full time college student who made over $4,050 in 2017 so TurboTax is saying that I can't declare her as a dependent. Is this correct?

[andy-armstrong]

I'm confused by this as I thought full time students were dependents. This help page has some information which makes it sound like she has to be under 24 and we must financially support her (which we do):

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/rules-for-claiming-a-dependent-on-your-tax-return/L8LODb...

I'm worried that this is going to make a big dent in our taxes, and there doesn't appear to be a way to override the decision.

I'd love some advice.

Thanks!

 - Andy

[MichaelDC · Accepted solution]

Income shouldn't be a problem in you claiming your 19-year-old daughter who is a full-time student. Make sure you state that she is indeed a full-time student and her age is correct. Also, understand that time away from home at school is called a temporary absence and counts as her living with you. Check the answers to the other dependency questions.

She will probably fall under the "Qualifying Child" rules where income isn't even an issue.

See this:

A qualifying child:

• They are related to you.
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They are a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They are under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students). 
• They live with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).

[andy-armstrong]

Thanks so much! It looks like the problem was that I said she only lived with us for five months. Changing that to living with us for 12 months allowed us to declare her as a dependent. Thanks again!

[MichaelDC]

Good catch!

[xmasbaby0]

You misunderstood something you read, or you answered something incorrectly.   You CAN claim your 19 year  old full-time colleges student as your dependent, even if she earned over $4050.  Make sure you said she lived at home all year--even if she was away at school;  that is a "temporary absence"--you can still say she lived with you.  Since she is your dependent , you get to enter the education credits on your own tax return -- like the 1098T.

She can file a tax return, but MUST say she can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return.