My daughter is a full time student and can I still claim her as a dependent

[DoninGA]

If she is under the age of 24 in 2023 and a full time student, then you may be able to claim her as a dependent under the Qualifying Child rules if she meets all the requirements under the rules.

To be a Qualifying Child -

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.
7. The child must be younger than you unless disabled.

[xmasbaby0]

Is she under the age of 24?    There are two kinds of dependents---qualified child and qualified relative.   Depending on her age and other factors--she might be one or the other.

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2023 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

• They're related to you.
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).
• No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.
• They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
• They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

Qualifying relative

• They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They lived with you the entire year (exceptions apply).
• They made less than $4,700 in 2023.
• You provided more than half of their financial support

[Vanessa A]

Possibly.  If your daughter is a full-time student under the age of 24 and meets the criteria below, then yes you can claim her as a dependent. 

The following criteria must be met to claim someone as a qualifying child:

• Your child (including adopted and foster children), your sibling, or a descendent of any of them.
• Age 18 or younger at the end of the tax year OR under 24 (and younger than you and your spouse) if they are a full-time student
• Lived with you for more than 6 months during the tax year
• They did not provide more than half of their own support
• They did not file a joint return, unless it was to claim a refund

If she is 24 or over then you would only be able to claim her if she had income of less than $4,700  and you paid over half of her support for the year. 

[xmasbaby0]

Oh....and just to make you know....if you can claim your daughter as a dependent, then YOU are the one who enters education credits on your own tax return.  A dependent cannot get education credits.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901172-what-are-education-tax-credits

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

Q. My daughter is a full time student, can I still claim her as a dependent?

A. Yes, probably. Becoming a full time student would not change anything, if she was already your dependent. In fact, becoming a FT student might make her your dependent, if she wasn't previously your dependent. 

That said, and as others have already said, being a FT student, alone, does not make her your dependent.  There are other requirements. The following has already ben said, but in different wording. 

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Note that the requirement is not that you (the taxpayer) provided more than half his support.  The requirement is only that the child did not provide more than half his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation. 
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

So, it doesn't matter how much he earned. What matters is how much he spent on support. Money he put into savings does not count as support he spent on himself.

The support value of the home, provided by the parent, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

Furthermore, there is a rule that says IF somebody else CAN claim him as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim himself. If he has sufficient income (usually more than $13.850), he can & should still file taxes. In TurboTax, he indicates that somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information section.  TT will check that box on form 1040.

Even if he had less, he is allowed to file if he needs to get back income tax withholding. He cannot get back social security or Medicare tax withholding.

With the tax law change, effective 2018, most students will get the same refund whether they claim themselves or not. The personal exemption has been eliminated and the standard deduction increased. However, you only qualify for an education credit or deduction, if you are not a dependent.