Claiming Daughter As A Student

[Christian]

A client has a twenty year old daughter who entered the local community college upon graduating from high school. She lives with mom and works as a waitress at a local restaurant. She did not get her associates degree from the college in June. Her mother tells me she is now enrolled in the six year degree program whatever that is. My question going forward is at what age can she no longer be shown as a student on her mother's return as a six year degree will carry her well beyond what appears as the cutoff age for carrying her as a student.

 

 

[BulldogTom]

She can be a dependent qualifying as a full time student until she turns 24, provided the rest of the dependency requirements are met.   The mom can get AOC for 4 years if daughter is he dependent.   LLC is available for any years in which AOC is not claimed.

Tom
Longview, CA

[Lion EA]

And, if daughter makes under the $$ limit for that future year when she lives with mom, she might be a qualifying relative when she's too old to be a qualifying child. Must meet the requirements, but not hard to do while a student, so research her qualifications each year.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p929.pdf

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf

[Christian]

Her tuition has largely been covered even receiving an allowance from the state. I don't think she is going to have enough credit hours to qualify as a half time student. She is earning like $10,000 to $12,000 + working as a waitress so I will need to monitor this very carefully.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Christian

[Lion EA]

Like Tom said, if NOT a FT student but over 18 and earning over the then-current amount ($4,700 for 2023, for example), daughter will NOT be a dependent of mother, and mother won't be eligible for education benefits. Daughter will take her own exemption and can take education benefits.

Sounds like mother already may have lost her tax dependent in a prior year.

[Christian]

Lion you have put your finger on the issue going forward. The daughter was enrolled in a local community college in a two year degree program or so i was given to understand. She did not pass enough work to get the degree. I am assuming while in the degree program she was shown as a half time student which likely ended in June of this year. This being so her mom can hang onto the dependent status for this year. If the fact she did not get her degree disqualifies her as a dependent I will need to research. I expect mom will be unable to keep her after this year as a dependent in any case. As you are well aware a parent hates to loose those dependents and like a dog with a bone tries to hold on tenaciously to them.

[Gail in Virginia]

Christian, if I remember correctly being a half time student is not enough to claim dependency - the student must have been a full time student for at least some part of 5 months of the year.  Not getting the degree would be irrelevant - you don't have to be a successful student, just a student.  

[Lion EA]

You may have some amending to do if the daughter hasn't been a full-time student since high school.

[Christian]

The half time student requirement comes from the AOC qualifier. I am safe for those first two years but going forward she will be a single gal.

[Christian]

All this stems from my annual client reviews which I do in an attempt to make certain all is according to Hoyle.

[Lion EA]

12 hours ago, Christian said:

 ...while in the degree program she was shown as a half time student...

If daughter was NOT at least a full-time student for any part of 5 months while in college, then she failed that qualification to be a dependent of her mother.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/fs-05-07.pdf

"...under the age of 24 if a full-time student for at least five months of the year..."

The dependency requirement had to be met first, before the parents could take the AOC or LLC education benefits.

Review! 

[Christian]

Well it is now resolved. In standard quarter or semester, VA measures training as follows: 12 credits or more are full-time. 9-11 credits are ¾ time. 6-8 credits are ½ time. She has enough credits to take care of the requirement. It is unlikely her mom can get the education credit as her tuition and related expenses are fully covered.