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June 1, 2019
Question

I was enrolled full time in college January 2016 through April 2016, but I graduated in May 2016. Would I be considered a full time student on my tax return?

  • June 1, 2019
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    Hal_Al
    Employee
    June 1, 2019

    Yes, graduating in May, even if you attended no classes, in May, means you were a full time student for parts of 5 calendar months.

    The 5 month rule is meaningless as far as YOU claiming any educational tax benefits. A shorter amount of time would still qualify.

    The 5 month full time student rule means that your parent may still be able to claim you as a qualifying child dependent. see the following, written to answer a parent asking a similar question.

    ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    If your child was a student (under 24) for at least 5 months and lived with you for more than half the year, and did not provide more than 1/2 his own support for the whole year, you can still claim him. Be sure he knows you're claiming him, so he doesn't claim himself. He can only be claimed once. But, he can "file taxes" without claiming his own exemption.

    The real question is who should be claiming him in this "transition" year to adulthood. You two have to agree on who is going to claim his exemption. Each should do their taxes both ways and see which way the family comes out best.  Even then, you have to meet the rules. The rule is that a child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” dependent, regardless of  his income, if:

    1. he is a full time student under 24 for at least 5 calendar months of the year (graduating in May usually means you meet the 5 month rule)

    2. he did not provide more than 1/2 his own support  (scholarships are considered 3rd party support and not support provided by the student). 

    3. lived with the parent (including time away at school) for more than half the year

     

    So, it usually hinges on  "Did he provide more than 1/2 his own support in 2016.

    The support value of the home you provided is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants. IRS Publication 501 on page 20 has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

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