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January 26, 2024
Question

Is there a way My soon to be wife a college student and I been supporting her for 3+ years I heard there a way to claim her with her 1098 form how can i

  • January 26, 2024
  • 1 reply
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What is the right way to do this

1 reply

Hal_Al
Employee
January 26, 2024

I assume "I been supporting her for 3+ years" means that her parents no longer claim her as a dependent.

 

You can only claim an education credit, based on her 1098-T, if she qualifies as your dependent*. This means, in addition to supporting her, she must live with you all year and have less than $4700 of income, on her own.  In addition to the (up to) $2500 Tuition credit, you get the (up to) $500 Credit for "Other" dependents (non child).

 

If she does not qualify as anyone's dependent, and does not have enough income to normally file a tax return, and is over age 23, she may  qualify for a $1000 refundable credit on her own. 

 

The best way to get all that, and more,  woulda been to get married before 12-31-23. 

 

*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 and student status test, a relationship test and a residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. The Other dependent (qualifying relative) credit is worth (up to) $500 per dependent and is non-refundable.  That is, it can only be used to reduce an actual tax liability.

A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:

  1. Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year
  2. His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4700 (2023) ($4400 for 2022).
  3. The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support

In either case:

  1. He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
  2. He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own
  3. He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer

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