Question

Did you support yourself in 2019? Need help answering this question.

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
January 25, 2020
2 replies
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TurboTax Live Deluxe Online

Employee

We asked you this question because based on your age, you might qualify for an education tax break called the American Opportunity credit.

Think about the people who helped pay for your living expenses. Did anyone pay for your rent or food? Consider all your living expenses and what you contributed. If you paid for more than half with your earned income, you supported yourself.

If a parent or someone else paid for more than half of your living expenses, you did not support yourself. If you used unearned income or student loans to pay for most of your expenses, you did not support yourself.

If you're in the military, your housing allowance counts as your income. If you paid for most of your living expenses with your income and housing allowance, you supported yourself.

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M

marceaufam4

I graduated college in May 2019 and my parents supported me though I paid for some things. Since June 2019 I have fully supported myself. How do I answer this question?

DMarkM1

See DawnC0 response above. Did you provide more than 1/2 of your support for the entire calendar year 2019? Your support would be your cost for lodging, food, clothes, entertainment, medical, household bills (heat, cool, electric, etc). Remember scholarships/grants do not count as your contribution. Here is a link with detailed discussion on the issue.

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Hal_Al

Employee

@maurkilahinton Why do you think you need an answer to that question? That is, what are you trying to accomplish? The answer to the question is quite nuanced. In fact there are two separate questions: 1. did you provide more than half your own support and 2. did more than half your support come from your earned income (wages).

Your parent(s) cannot claim you as a dependent, if the answer to #1 is yes. You cannot claim the refundable education credit if the answer to #2 is no. The first question is usually academic. With the tax law change, effective 2018, most students will get the same refund whether they claim themselves or not. The personal exemption has been eliminated and the standard deduction increased.

The statement, at the other reply, "If you used unearned income or student loans to pay for most of your expenses, you did not support yourself" is incorrect. Unearned income (interest, dividends, capital gains), in your name is considered as support you provided; as are student loans, solely in your name (your parents did not co-sign). Scholarships, on the other hand, are considered third party support and not support provided by you..

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 The support value of the home, your parents provide, is the fair market rental value plus utilities, divided by the number of occupants.