Will claiming myself make me owe more money than not claiming myself?

[jen-sara-sj]

When I filed my taxes I put that someone else will be able to claim me as a dependent, but when my parents went to file they were unable to claim me because I made too much income. Now I am wanting to amend my taxes and refile so I can claim myself, but when I went to do so it said that I would be owing money instead of getting more of a refund. Please help me understand how this is possible.

[DoninGA]

How old were you on 12/31/2016 and were you a full time student in 2016?

[jen-sara-sj]

I was 20 years old and no I did not attend school in 2016. I worked full time.

[DoninGA]

Since you were over the age of 18 and not a full time student, then if your gross income in 2016 was $4,050 or more then no one can claim you as a dependent.  

When you file your tax return as the taxpayer and not being claimed as a dependent on someone else's return then you receive your own personal exemption of $4,050 on your federal tax return.  This exemption and the standard deduction for your filing status is subtracted from your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) to arrive at your taxable income.

The personal exemption is beneficial to you since the amount of the exemption is reducing the amount of taxable income.

[jen-sara-sj]

So I don't need to amend and refile even though no one, not even myself claimed me?

[DoninGA]

Oh no...You will need to amend your 2016 return if you stated on your return that someone can claim you as a dependent.  Amending the return to remove the dependency will either increase your refund or reduce the amount of taxes owed from the original tax return that was filed.
You change your dependency in the Personal Info section of the program by editing your name.
See this TurboTax support FAQ for amending 2016 tax return originally completed using the online editions - <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3402261-how-do-i-amend-my-2016-turbotax-online-return">https://ttl...>

[jen-sara-sj]

Thank you so much! Mailing them today 🙂