registering a dependent's car in another state

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
June 28, 2020
2 replies
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I am a resident of Delaware. My 21-year daughter is a full-time student in North Carolina. She lives off campus so she has a North Carolina address. I plan to claim her as a dependent for the next 2 years while she is in school. It's time to renew her car registration and we were thinking of switching it to North Carolina because she plans to stay there after graduation. If she registers her car in NC and gets an NC driver's license, will I still be able to claim her as a dependent? I'm still supporting her financially while she's in school.

CatinaT1

Yes, you will still be able to claim her. Being away at school is considered a temporary absence.

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JHUstu

Can dependent have their car which is titled in their name registered, insured and titled at their college address and still be a dependent for tax purposes if dependent doesnt provide more than 50% of their support? Some states won't cover you if you are in an accident unless you have insurance in that state.

xmasbaby0

Employee

@JHUstu How your dependent's car is titled and/or insured has no bearing on whether you can claim your child as a dependent. Your issue regarding car insurance is not a tax question. And even if your child lives in another state, living away from home for school is considered to be a "temporary absence" so you still say on your tax return that the child lived with you when you claim the child as a dependent.

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3113432-who-can-i-claim-as-my-dependent

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**

Carl11_2

Employee

Just an addendum for something unrelated that jumped out at me when I read it.

I'm still supporting her financially while she's in school.

There is no requirement for the parent to provide the student any support. Not one single penny. The support requirement is on the student, and only the student. That requirement is:

If the *STUDENT* did *NOT* provide more than half of their own support for the entire tax year, then the parent qualifies to claim that student as a dependent on the parent's tax return. Scholarships, grants, 529 distributions, gifts from Aunt Mary, money from mom and dad, and any other 3rd party income *DO* *NOT* *COUNT* for the student providing their own support. There are only two possible ways the student can have any claim to providing more than half of their own support.

1) The student is self-employed or has a W-2 job and makes sufficient *EARNED* income during the tax year to support a claim to providing more than half of their own support. Additionally, that earned income must be more than the total all of third party income received by the student during the tax year.

2) The student is the *PRIMARY* borrower on a *qualified* student loan, and sufficient funds were distributed to the student from that loan during the tax year to support a claim to providing more than half of their own support. Additionally, the funds distributed to the student during the tax year must exceed the total of all third party income received by the student in that same tax year.