Can I claim myself on my own taxes?

[deandrerichie]

I am currently 20 years old. while I do live at home, the only thing that my guardians pay for would be rent since i do not pay them. I have been enrolled full time a majority of the year (aside from my previous and current quarter) and have paid tuition all myself out of pocket. Each quarter has been around anywhere from 12-1600 and has been only my income. I also pay for my phone bill, my car insurance, any repairs on my car, gas, etc. I rarely eat at home if ever, and never borrow money.. I ask because I pay a lot in taxes as well as qualify for a tax credit for it but obviously cannot claim it if i am still claimed. For technical purposes i am no longer a full time student but i’m not sure if that matters as I have been a majority of the year. Essentially the only catch is i live at home, everything else has been through my own financial means 

for clarification I am at community college level. I would say between like 4-6k in tuition alone

[Carl]

For starters, I'm going to reword your question here for the benefit of others that read this thread. I know what you're asking, but others may misunderstand it. So your question is:

"Can I take the self-exemption for myself on my tax return?"

Most likely, no. The fact you don't pay rent has no bearing on it either. As a college student, there is absolutely no requirement what-so-ever for your parents to provide more than 50% of your support. The support requirement is on you the student only. That requirement is (in plain English):

 If the STUDENT did NOT provide MORE than 50% of THE STUDENT's own support, then the parents qualify to claim the student on the parent's tax return. Scholarships, grants, 1099-Q funds, gifts from Aunt Mary, etc *do not count* for the student providing their own support.

Note that there is no requirement for support on the part of the parents. Also, "support" is not restricted to monitary support either. Your parents provided you with a roof over your head, food, and a bed to sleep in. You didn't pay for it. So from the IRS perspective, *you* did not provide that support. (Just so happens your parent's did in this case.) THe way that's figured is to determine what you *would* have paid for it at *fair market value* if you did pay rent, your share of the utilities, among other things (such as transportation and the food you ate at your parent's house for example.)

Also as a full time student, your earnings do not matter. You could have earned a million dollars in 2017, and your parents still qualify to claim you as a dependent on their tax return. The dependency qualification for a student has nothing to do with what that student earned. It has everything to do with where that student's support came from, and if that student provided more than 50% of their own support with funds that student earned in the same tax year.

IN reference to your "for technical purposes" comment, what you are "right now" doesn't matter. What does matter for your 2017 taxes, is your status on Dec 31, 2017. Basically, if you were enrolled as a full time student *for any one semester* that started in the tax year, this stuff would apply to you.

Yes, I'm being the "devil's advocate" here on purpose. It's in the interest of ensuring taxes are filed correctly the first time. The last thing you need as a new college graduate, is to get audited by the IRS before you've barely got your feet wet in your new career.

I also note you refer to those you live with as "guardians".  Are they not your parents? Are they court appointed guardians maybe? What's the scoop? That could matter for all I know, so that's the only reason I ask.

[deandrerichie]

i was adopted, so legally they are my parents sorry to confuse.

from my understanding of reading support is not only limited to housing and food correct? in regards to medical, education, and transportation for the year i pay that out of pocket

[Carl]

Your reference to "pay out of pocket" indicates that you're only thinking in terms of cash money you spent. You have to take in to account the fair market monetary value of the support you were provided that was not in the form of cash. The roof over your head, transportation (not only to school and back either), the water, gas, electric, heat, etc that you benefited from.
There is a work sheet that can be used for determining support. Has things on it you or I wouldn't normally think of that are "in fact" support. The work sheet is from the perspective of your parents, and not from the student's perspective. It's at <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf...>
Now here's what's important to understand also...actually there's several things.
 - If you do not have sufficient income that you earned in the tax year to have provided more than half of your own support, don't bother trying to claim you did. You're just begging for an audit, and you will lose. Do note that borrowed money that *YOU* borrowed as the *primary* borrower is considered to be *your* money for the purpose of determining support.
- When determining the value of non-monetary support use the "real" value, and not the "he's my child" value. For example, I might charge my own son $200/mo for "rent". But if it was someone else, I'd charge them at least $600 a month to rent my son's bedroom. You gotta use the higher, more realistic value of things.
 
Understand that if your parents qualify to claim you as a dependent on their tax return, it flat out *does not matter* if they actually claim you or not. If *they* qualify, then *you* cannot take the self-exemption. Period.
Do understand though, that no matter what, every tax filer gets the "standard deduction" just for breathing. So regardless you get the $6,350 standard deduction any way you look at it. For the self-exemption, you're only talking about $4,050 of your taxable income. Now that's not $4,050 of taxes. It's $4,050 of your "taxable income". At best, you're looking at no more than a $200-250 reduction in any tax liability you may have - if you have any tax liability at all that is. Just depends on the total amount of taxable income you are reporting.

[deandrerichie]

I am considering that aspect as well.,. I was just clarifying that the only thing as far as support from them is staying there and benefiting from the free rent, water, electricity, and heat. everything else whether it be transportation anywhere, has for all of that, repairs on said car, education, medical, etc are all things that i provide for. I work full time and make ~22k a year as well as pay plenty in taxes which is the only reason i’m interested in the self exemption. I appreciate your feedback though!