College student a dependent
|  Dear
Tax Talk,
My 18-year-old daughter is now working part time while in
college. She lives at home, and made less than $2,000 in 2006. I know we must
submit a tax return in her name, but does that mean that she can no longer be
a deductible dependent on my return? My husband is disabled and I am the only
one working with a family of four. If I can't claim her, it will really affect
my outcome. Thanks, and God bless for your help. I look forward to hearing from
you.
-- Luann
Dear Luann,
Dependency exemptions are always some of the more complex decisions
when it comes to doing your taxes.
The most important thing to remember when claiming
your child is that no matter what she earns, she can still be your
dependent if she is younger than 24 years old as long as she is
a student and you provide more than half of her support.
To qualify as a student, your child must be, during
some part of each of any five calendar months of the year, one of
two things.
 |
Qualifications for student: |
|
|
| 1. |
A full-time student
at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course
of study and a regularly enrolled student body at the
school. |
| 2. |
Or a student taking
a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school
described in (1), or by a state, county or local government
agency. |
|
A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for
the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time
attendance. At most schools anything more than six hours per semester
is considered full-time attendance.
If
your child only earned $2,000, chances are that you provided more than half of
her support. In 2006 a dependent child with only earned income of less than $5,150
is not required to file a return. However, if your daughter had income taxes withheld,
she should file to request a refund.
To ask a question on Tax Talk, go to the "Ask
the Experts" page and select "taxes" as the topic.
|
