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April 8, 2022
Question

Can a part-time student be declared as a dependent?

  • April 8, 2022
  • 1 reply
  • 0 views

I am confused about whether or not a part-time student can be declared as my dependent.  I have seen other answers on here that say the student must be full-time.  However, IRS Pub 501 just states 'student':

 

  1. "The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), (b) under age 24 at the end of the year, a student, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.

My son was part-time for 1 semester and then graduated.  We paid over half his expenses for the year.  He got his first job after graduation and made over $10k for the remainder of the year after graduation.

Thanks

 

1 reply

Hal_Al
Employee
April 8, 2022

Q. Can a part-time student be declared as a dependent?

A.  No.

 

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and "Qualifying Relative" (QR). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status (FULL TIME), a relationship test and residence test.

 

Since your child was not a fulltime student, he cannot be a QC.  Since he made more than $4300, he cannot be a QR. 

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

  1. 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
  2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
  3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Return/INF12139.html