Should I claim my son as a dependent and impact on his taxes?

Forum|Forum|2 years ago
March 17, 2024
2 replies
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My 19 yr old son started working last year (2023) but still lives at home and I believe I still pay for more than half of his living expenses. I started to claim him as an dependent on my taxes as I've always done (but I haven't filed yet). Before I do file, how does that impact his taxes? I don't necessarily want to negatively impact his potential return. Thoughts / Suggestions on what I should from experts or other parents that have been thru this? This scenario will probably exist for me for a few / many years while he lives at home and while my younger son get to be that age too.

Thank you,

Rob S.

Best answer by JulieS

Yes, it sounds like you can claim him, but do carefully review the questions in TurboTax regarding his income and how long he was a student to make sure.

As far as exactly what that will do to your tax returns, I can't answer that without doing them.

Here are a few things to consider:

He's likely to get back all of the federal income tax he paid in even if you claim him as a dependent since he didn't work the entire year.
It's likely there's an educational credit for the tuition while he was in college. It can only be claimed by you if you claim him as a dependent, or by him, if you don't.
In general, the claiming of a college student usually results in a higher refund for the parent than it does for the student.

Bsch4477

Employee

Assuming that he is not a full time student and earns more than $4,700 you can’t claim him.

xmasbaby0

Employee

You have not mentioned when he turned 19 or whether he was a full-time student in 2023. If he was 19 before the end of 2023 and he was NOT a student in 2023, you cannot claim him if he had over $4700 of income in 2023.

If he was younger than 19 at the end of 2023, you can claim him as a dependent even if he earned more than $4700, or if he was a full-time student in 2023, you can claim him even if he earned more than $4700.

If he can be claimed as someone else's dependent, he can still file his own tax return to seek a refund of tax withheld from his paychecks, but he MUST say on his own return that someone else can claim him.

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

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

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2023 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

They're related to you.
They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).

No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.

They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

Qualifying relative

They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
They lived with you the entire year (exceptions apply).
They made less than $4,700 in 2023.
You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a 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.**

rsevickAuthor

Thank you for your response.

he was a full time student for the Spring semester of 2023 but decided college wasn’t for him and he didn’t go back in Fall 2023. He got a job instead. Can/should I claim him as a dependent? And if so, how does that impact both mine and his taxes?

thanks again!!

Rob

JulieSAnswer

Yes, it sounds like you can claim him, but do carefully review the questions in TurboTax regarding his income and how long he was a student to make sure.

As far as exactly what that will do to your tax returns, I can't answer that without doing them.

Here are a few things to consider:

He's likely to get back all of the federal income tax he paid in even if you claim him as a dependent since he didn't work the entire year.
It's likely there's an educational credit for the tuition while he was in college. It can only be claimed by you if you claim him as a dependent, or by him, if you don't.
In general, the claiming of a college student usually results in a higher refund for the parent than it does for the student.

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