Our 21 year old son was away at college for the first half of 2016 but did not go back in the fall. He lives with us. He earned less than $4400 but will be filing a return based on that income. Is he a dependent?

[KenH1 · Accepted solution]

In your case, that completely depends on whether his college considered him a full-time student in 2016.

IRS Pub 970 isn't 100% clear on what constitutes a "full-time student" other than to say it's up the the school:

A student was enrolled at least half-time if the student was taking at least half the normal full-time work load for his or her course of study. The standard for what is half of the normal full-time work load is determined by each eligible educational institution. However, the standard may not be lower than any of those established by the U.S. Department of Education under the Higher Education Act of 1965.

It seems unlikely that the IRS would complain about his full-time status or claiming him as a dependent.