Where do I specify my child was a full time student? I can't find a checkbox or anywhere else to tell Turbotax that he was a full time student. Am I just missing it?

[matt-Chev]

When going through the program I hit the Earned Income Credit section and in the little question mark help section it mentions a full time student for a child of divorced parents. My 19 year old son lives with me and goes to school full time so I figured I'd see if I could claim him as a full time student. But I can't find anyplace in Turbotax to specify that he is a student. Am I just missing it, or is this claimed by a form from his school that I have not entered?

[DoninGA]

You missed the screen where you were asked if the dependent was a full time student.  Delete the dependent and then add them back.  One of the follow on screens will specifically ask if the dependent was a full time student in 2017.

[Anita01 · Accepted solution]

It's a question in the dependents part of personal information.  You can delete him and enter again and go through all the questions.  If he lives at school during the school year, make sure to include that time as time lived with you.

[Josh D North Country]

I am having a similar issue. For two of my three children, the system is not letting me select that my child is a full-time student. I deleted the old information on them, created new dependents, and even then there is no option to show that they are students.

Is my best bet just to wait till this glitch gets repaired? 

Thanks.

[xmasbaby0]

There  is a screen in MY INFO that shows "Less Common Situations" (or something to that effect) and you need to click the choice on that screen to indicate that he was a student.

[Josh D North Country]

Thanks! I will take a look, but I think it's on that page that you mention where the information should be (but isn't). 

[ninaj17]

On the "less common situations" page, the checkbox to indicate my child is a full time student is missing?? She is 24 but a full time student that made more than $5050 last year.  Not sure why it's missing.  For the other child, there was a box for me to indicate that kid is a full time student?  What I've read is they are exempt from the $5,050 rule if they are a student and were no older than 24 at the end of the tax year which applies.

[xmasbaby0]

If your 24 year old made more than $5050 in 2024, it does not matter that she was a student.  She cannot be claimed as anyone else's dependent.   Over 23 and over $5050 in income = cannot be claimed.

[xmasbaby0]

@ninaj17 She is too old to be a qualifying child and made too much income to be a qualifying relative.  You cannot claim her.

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2024 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 $5050 in 2024 (not counting Social Security)
• You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a dependent.

Related Information:

• What does "financially support another person" mean?