W-4 tax form, should I claim myself or should I claim as a dependent under my mom? I don't make a lot but I don't want her to keep my tax money. Would she get the money?

[linaash99]

I don't want my mom to keep the money that I could possibly receive in tax returns. She said she would not return my tax money to me but I was wondering if I would legally receive the money or would it be under her and if it is more beneficial to claim myself or be a dependent.

[SweetieJean]

Can your mother legally claim you as a dependent?  How old are you? In college?

[SweetieJean]

Based on your Screen name, were you born in 1999?

[rjs]

Your mother cannot get your tax refund under any circumstances. If you are entitled to a refund, it will go to you.

You can't decide whether or not you are a dependent based on what is more beneficial to you. If you meet the tests for your mother to claim you as a dependent, then you are her dependent, whether or not she actually claims you. There is nothing you can do about it. But being a dependent will not prevent you from getting your own tax refund if you are entitled to a refund.

The tests for claiming someone as a dependent are discussed at the following link. This is written from the point of view of the person claiming the dependent, not from the point of view of the dependent.

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_2015_publink1000220868">https://www.irs.gov/pu...>

[linaash99]

@SweetieJean yes I was born in 99

[linaash99]

@rjs so if I put that I am a dependent and my mom claims me on her tax, I will get the tax refund back and not her? I thought it is combined if I'm her dependent and the money is basically hers.

[rjs]

You might or might not get a refund. It depends on how much income you have and how much tax you have withheld. If you do get a refund, you will get it, not your mother. It's your money, not hers. Your tax and hers are not combined, even if she claims you as a dependent.

Keep in mind that a tax refund is not a gift from the government. It's exactly what the word says, a refund of money that you paid. You get a refund if you paid more tax than necessary during the year. You are letting the government hold your money and send it back to you after the end of the year. If the final tax on your tax return is less than you had withheld from your pay during the year, the government sends your excess payment back to you.

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

There are several issues here.

First, what you claim on the W-4 does not have to match what you eventually claim on your actual tax return. If you want the maximum take home pay claim yourself on the W-4. If you want a refund at tax time, claim 0 exemptions. You mother will have no access to your refund. You will get it all. You file a separate tax return from her. It is not combined with her return.

At actual tax filing time, it is not optional whether you claim yourself. If you qualify as you mother's dependent, you cannot claim yourself. Since you are under age 19, you almost certainly qualify as her dependent.