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Dependent

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
January 30, 2021
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My grandson, age 22, worked most of 2020 and enrolled in graduate school in August. I paid over half his living expenses. Must he state that he can be claimed by another even if I do not claim him? Obviously this is key to whether or not he receives stimulus payments.

Dependents

Best answer by Hal_Al

Yes, he MUST state that he can be claimed by another person even if you do not claim him.

If you (or anyone else) CAN claim him, as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim the stimulus payment.

Are you sure you paid over half his expenses, including grad school expenses. You don't say where he lives.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

The support value of the home, provided by the taxpayer, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

Scholarships are third party support (neither support provided by the student or by you). Loans are support provided by the student unless you or the parent co-signed.

ColeenD3

You are not required to claim a dependent. If he meets the qualifications for someone else, they could be allowed to claim him. See the two types of qualifications below.

Qualifying Child

Relationship — the taxpayer’s child or stepchild (whether by blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or step-sibling, or a descendant of one of these.

Residence — has the same principal residence as the taxpayer for more than half the tax year. Exceptions apply, in certain cases, for children of divorced or separated parents, kidnapped children, temporary absences, and for children who were born or died during the year.

Age — must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year, or under the age of 24 if a full-time student for at least five months of the year, or be permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year.

Support — did not provide more than one-half of his/her own support for the year.

Qualifying Relative

You can claim a child, relative, friend, fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2020 taxes as long as they meet all of the following requirements :

You provided more than half of their financial support. More info
They made less than $4,300 in gross income during 2020 unless they are a qualifying child.
They live with you or they are related to you. (Your relative must live at your residence all year or be on the list of “relatives who do not live with you” in Publication 501.)
They are a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
They aren't (or won't be) claimed as a dependent by someone else.
They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
You are not being claimed as a dependent on someone else's return.

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ravenclaw328

he is 23 and lives with us he hasn't work this year and he is entitled to the check i just want to know if i claim him on our taxes as a dependent and he does quality as such which boxes do i check so we can receive the check i can file a return for him but why should i we supported him the whole year and i don't want to lose the stimulus check

Hal_AlAnswer

Employee

Yes, he MUST state that he can be claimed by another person even if you do not claim him.

If you (or anyone else) CAN claim him, as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim the stimulus payment.

Are you sure you paid over half his expenses, including grad school expenses. You don't say where he lives.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.

The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.

The support value of the home, provided by the taxpayer, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

Scholarships are third party support (neither support provided by the student or by you). Loans are support provided by the student unless you or the parent co-signed.

A

anitaaustin

My son, who is over 17, was not a full time student this year so I entered that I didn't have dependents. That changed my filing status to single from head of household. Then, when he qualified for the tax credit, I entered for the tax credit but didn't realize that would show him as a dependent. Then when we submitted his tax return it was rejected because it said I claimed him as a dependent. Now I can't modify my return until it gets processed.

Turbo tax should have flagged that I marked no dependents when I marked for the tax credit. And possibly had me change my filing status back to head of household.

The issue is that I owe a ton in taxes and now my son won't get the stimulus check.

I marked not to take the money I own from my account until 4/10/21 and don't know if I need to wait till then to refile my taxes so my son can refile his. Or if I can just do it after the Feds process my forms but not the payment.

What a royal pain that could have been avoided if Turbo Tax would have flagged that issue or advised to change my filing status.

J

JamesG1

If you have e-filed your 2020 Federal tax return and the tax return is accepted by the IRS, you may want to amend your 2020 Federal tax return and change the entries to allow you to not claim your son as a dependent. Amended tax returns will not be available until March.

If you elect this choice, it sounds like you may be paying back some or all of the refund that you receive.

If you have e-filed your 2020 Federal tax return and the tax return is rejected by the IRS, you will be able to change your entries, not claim your son as a dependent as well as correct the entries that generated the rejection.

You may qualify for Head of Household filing status if you:

Were unmarried as of December 31, 2020 and
Paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home during the tax year (rent, mortgage, utilities, etc.), and
Supported a qualifying person.

If you were legally married as of December 31, 2020 and a child lives with you, you may qualify for Head of Household filing status if:

You won't be filing jointly with your spouse,
Your spouse did not live in your home after June,
Your home was your child's, stepchild's, or foster child's main home for more than half the year,
You paid more than half the costs of keeping up your home during the tax year
You meet the qualifications to claim the child as your dependent, even if the other (noncustodial) parent is actually claiming the child as a dependent on their return

For purposes of qualifying for the Head of Household filing status, a qualifying person is a child, parent or relative who meets certain conditions.

A qualifying child would be:

Your child (including legally adopted), stepchild, foster child, sibling, half-sibling, step-sibling, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your grandchild or niece) AND
Permanently and totally disabled OR under the age of 19 as of December 31, 2020 (under 24 if a full-time student) and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) AND
Lived with you for more than half the year AND
Single (or if the child is married, you would have to qualify to claim them as a dependent even if you're not going to claim them as such).

A qualifying relative would be:

Your mother or father, if you are qualified to claim them as a dependent (even if you're not claiming them as such) OR
A relative related by blood, legal adoption, or marriage other than a parent (child, sibling, grandparent, nephew, aunt, step-parent, in-law, etc.) AND lived with you for more than half the year AND that you're able to claim as a dependent (even if you're not claiming them as such).

TurboTax software will ask you simple questions and give you the filing status that you are eligible for based upon your answers.

See also this TurboTax Help.

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O

Opus 17

Employee

If your grandson can be claimed as a dependent, regardless of who could claim him, he must check the box that says he can be claimed, even if he does not want to be claimed and even if the other person agrees not to claim him. This will disqualify him from the stimulus credit. If he fails to check the box in order to get a payment, that would be considered tax fraud.

Whether or not he can be claimed depends on his living arrangements and his sources of support. You may need to actually add up all of the costs that you paid, and all of the costs he provided for himself to make sure you get the correct answer for your situation.

ColeenD3

There are two questions in the program that relate to these new comments. Please see the screen shot below.

O

Opus 17

Employee

Yes. The second question only applies to the American opportunity tax credit. In some circumstances, a student who can be claimed as a dependent but is not claimed, can qualify for AOTC, and if the parent‘s income is too high to qualify for the AOTC, this can be to the overall benefit of the student and their family. I am not aware of any other tax situation to which the second question applies.

The first question is by far the most important. If the taxpayer can be claimed as a dependent, they must say yes, even if the person who could claim them won’t. And for 2020, saying yes that they can be claimed, will disqualify them from the recovery rebate.

S

Sunny66

How much do you get for someone 62

Hal_Al

Employee

@Sunny66

Q. How much do you get for someone 62

A. The "Other" (other than a child ) Dependent credit is $500 and is non refundable. It can only reduce your tax liability. It's the same regardless of the age of the (non child) dependent.

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DelmaL

Son is in his third year of college. We provide his rent, and more than half of his over all expenses. He works part time and grossed over $4500 in income. Question: can we still claim him as our dependent.

Hal_Al

Employee

@DelmaL Yes, assuming he is a fulltime student. There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC*but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

The $4300 income limit, you may have heard of, applies to Qualifying Relatives