I want to claim myself but am still under 24 and a full-time studentt. I definitely provided more than half of my own support in 2010 but a parent may calculate things differently. How can I prevent a parent from claiming me?
Prevent them? I don’t think you can. But if you are an adult and file your own income tax return, the IRS may deny them a deduction for your support. The burden is on them to prove they are entitled to the deduction, which may be difficult if you file a tax return.
I am not a tax attorney. The preceding is not legal advice. Consult a tax professional before drawing any conclusions about your tax status.
If you file your return before your parents file theirs, the IRS will automatically block them from e-filing, since you’ll have already claimed yourself so to speak. They can paper file and the IRS will process that and respond to both your parents and to you with a letter that amounts to “You can’t both claim the exemption, so one of you needs to amend.” If you both continue to insist that you are right, the IRS may ask for documentation of your position - registered addresses, copies of bills, records of income, etc.
I think that the IRS will not force you to be claimed as a dependent if you stick by your position, regardless of the evidence. However, there are some tax credits that you can be denied for if someone else can claim you as a dependent, even if they choose not to.
Remember that “support” includes virtually all of your expenses, including tuition. Student loans and scholarships are not support you provide to yourself. Your parents don’t have to provide you with a single dollar of support - you just have to provide less than half for yourself. The result is that most college students easily meet the support test for the parents to claim the deduction.
In the end, I would strongly encourage you and your parents to sit down as a group in front of a tax professional. Let them explain the implications and examine the evidence to see what is allowable and to illustrate the outcomes of those various options.
Does federal workstudy belong in a different category than loans or scholarships? Also, if I’m not required to file, is there a way to prevent their claiming of me without a preemptive file?
“Mom and Dad, please do not claim me as a dependent for tax purposes.”
The process is not business. It’s personal.
This is why you want to sit down as a group with a tax professional. Or at least set up a conference call.
Are you interested in claiming yourself for the taxes or because you think it will help you with financial aid? Because it won’t matter for the financial aid . If you’re under 24 and an undergraduate, it will be nearly impossible to get financial aid as an independent student unless you are a veteran, married or supporting your own dependents . If you are over 24 or a graduate student , you are automatically independent.
I was going to say this. There is no point in claiming yourself as independent of your parents for federal financial aid purposes, you will still have to claim their income on your fafsa EVEN IF they do NOT claim you as a dependent. (been there myself, claimed myself for tax purposes so I could get tax refunds from the jobs I worked, but I still had to claim parents’ income on my fafsa every single year I was in school regardless of whether I worked or claimed myself or not)
If you want to get a tax refund because of a job you’ve been working, just tell your parents you are claiming yourself, and make sure to file your return before they file theirs (now would be a good time). But unless you are married or have kids of your own, you still have to claim their income on your fafsa. It’s lame (especially if your parents aren’t giving you a dime for your education, like mine) but that’s how they do it.