I am 19, fulltime student, did not live with my parents 50% of the year, have $7,701 at least in loans (parents have $4,230), and made at least $2,000. Am I a dependent?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 3, 2021
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I read multiple answers on here and still am very confused. I made 2,188.00 according to my 1099 form. On my 1098-T, it says under Box 1, 9379.59. My parents had a parent plus loan back in Spring 2020 for $4,830.00 actually. I did not live under their household for over 50% of the year, but how do I prove that? Also, would I be doing more than 50% of my own support as I have more loans out than them and did not live in their household? Thank you.

TurboTax Self Employed Online

mglauner

Living away from home while at college does not count as not living at home, if you return home when out of school. School is considered a 'temporary absence' from home, even if it is more than half the year.

If you supported yourself with student loan funds while away at school, this does not count as 'supporting yourself'.

Click this link for more info on Did I Support Myself.

czempel12Author

I did not live at college either. I didn’t live at my parents residence or college.

Hal_Al

Employee

When did you move out and where di you move to and why? And how long to you plan to be there and do you intend to return to your parent's home. Living off campus is still considered a temporary absence from your parent's home.

Even if your living situation qualifies as not living with your parents for more than half the year (the residence test), you still haven't provided enough information to answer your question "Am I a dependent?"

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 parent, while you did live with them, 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