Can my son claim himself if he qualifies as a dependent on my return?

[wmlbus2012]

My son qualifies as a dependent on my return.  He is 21, was a full time student for 5 months, lived with me for more than half the year and I paid for all of his support.  He worked part time, made $11,248.  He wants to claim himself on his return.  I know we can't both claim him but is he allowed to claim himself if he could be claimed on mine?  I do want to claim him and I want to be able to tell he's not allowed to claim himself.

[jerry2000 · Accepted solution]

No, he can not claim himself. The question that he has to answer on his tax return is can he be claimed on someone elses return, and the true answer is yes.

Have him read the rules for claiming a dependent:

Rules for Claiming an Exemption for a Dependent:

- You cannot claim any dependents if you, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.
- You cannot claim a married person who files a joint return as a dependent unless that joint return is only a claim for refund and there would be no tax liability for either spouse on separate returns.
- You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
- You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is your qualifying child or qualifying relative.

Test 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 and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly), (b) under age 24 at the end of the year, a full-time student and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly), (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year (except for temporary absences such as for school)
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her support for the year.
5. The child is not filing a joint return for the year (unless that
return is filed only as a claim for refund).
6. 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.

Test to be a Qualifying Relative:

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer.
2. The person either (a) be related to your in one of the following ways:
    Your child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them
    Your brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, or stepsister.
    Your father, mother, grandparent, or other direct ancestor, but not foster parent.
    Your stepfather or stepmother.
    A son or daughter of your brother or sister.
    A brother or sister of your father or mother.
    Your son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.
or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household (and your relationship must not violate local law).
3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $3,950 (social security does not count).
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.

There is a very good worksheet to help you determine how much support you provide. It is on page 15 of IRS Pub. 501
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

[rainydaze]

Only one of you can claim his exemption.  If you do, then he cannot and vice versa.  If he was able to provide more than 50% of his own support, you cannot claim him even if he was a full time student.  If he did not, then you have the right to claim. 

[wmlbus2012]

Question on this part: If he was able to provide more than 50% of his own support.   Do you mean if he made enough money that he could pay for more than 50% or if he actually paid for more than 50%?  He didn't give me any money to pay for his support.

[jerry2000]

The question is did he actually provide more than half of his own support. It has nothing to do with how much money he made, only what he spent it on.

[wmlbus2012]

Thanks jerry2000, to the point.

[rainydaze]

If he made a million dollars, but it went into his bank account, that doesn't count as him providing his own support since someone else (presumably you) paid for his living.  An exaggerated example, but to the point as well.  It isn't clear that your son has paid for more than 50% of his support as he's working part time and it sounds like is living with you (or was most of the year) on your dime.

[Squido360]

Hi,

So I am a student, and my financial aid covers most of my expenses, the other expenses, I pay 90% of. Can I claim myself as independent since I pay for the vast majority of my finances? Aid helps and I pay the rest

[DawnC]

Probably not.  You can claim yourself as a dependent if you are providing over half of your financial support.  If you are not providing over half of your support, it is likely that someone else can claim you and if someone else can claim you, you can't claim yourself.    

If you used unearned income or student loans to pay for most of your expenses, you did not support yourself.  You said your financial aid covers most of your expenses and financial aid does not count as it is not earned income.  See this article for more details - Did I support myself?

@Squido360

[Squido360]

Ok, over the summer I paid for all of my expenses by myself, and my parents have paid for next to none of my expenses all year. Since I paid for my expenses in the summer and they didn't pay for any of my expenses throughout the whole year, would that change anything? @DawnC 

[KrisD15]

@wmlbus2012

If you supplied all the student's support (and the other requirements are met) the student cannot claim himself, only the supporting Taxpayer can claim the student. Only the taxpayer that claims the student may claim an education credit based on that student's expenses. The IRS does not allow the student the option of claiming themselves or not. If the student meets the requirements of a Qualifying Child (in your case since he earned more than the limit for Qualifying Relative) then only you have the option to claim him or not, but if you don't, no one can, not even the student himself. The IRS is strict on this. 

PLEASE CLICK HERE for requirements to claim a dependent

@Squido360

For one taxpayer to claim a person as their dependent, the person they want to claim must not pay more than half of their own support. For a student, grants and scholarships don't count. Expenses paid with scholarships and/or Grants do not count as expenses paid for by the student. Also, things like housing and health insurance expense WOULD count, so if the student is claimed as a dependent on the parent's health insurance, it might be hard to prove the student paid more than half of his or her expenses. 

The link below supplies an IRS support worksheet. 

CLICK HERE for an IRS support worksheet

[DawnC]

Unfortunately, it does not matter if your parents are paying next to nothing.  In order for you to claim yourself, you have to provide over half of your support and we are talking calendar year.  So, although you may have meet that threshold during the summer, you have to answer the question for the entire year.    @Squido360    See KrisD's worksheet above.

[casey1270]

can my son claim single on his taxes if a claim him as a dependent on my return. He is a full time student.

[casey1270]

where is the box saying that he is claimed by somebody else

[xmasbaby0]

He says in My Info that he can be claimed as someone else's dependent.

MY DEPENDENT HAD A JOB

If your dependent has a W-2 for his after-school job, summer job, etc. you do not include the information on your own return. You can still claim your child as a dependent on your own return.  He/she can file his own return for a refund of some of his withheld wages (he won’t get back anything for Social Security or Medicare), but MUST indicate on it that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.  (Supervise this closely or prepare it for him!)

If your dependent’s earnings were over $400 and were reported on a 1099Misc then he must file a return and pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.  You may want to use this version of TT for that:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program