<p>Our S is thinking about trying to gain residency where he's attending college because he may be interested in grad school and we're wondering about whether to claim him as a dependent on our tax return for 2008 (he is a rising senior). He is working part-time at his U as well as getting significant merit aid.</p>
<p>Would appreciate any advice about this, since filing deadlines are upon us. Thanks!</p>
<p>I don’t believe residency comes into play. The tax dependent issue is whether you provide more than 50% of his financial support. (Do you pay tuition, R&B, living expenses?)</p>
<p>Each state has its own rules on determining whether a Student is considered a resident or not. Find out the rules for the school he wants to attend. Most schools don’t count time as a student there as establishing residency.</p>
<p>I believe in most cases if you attend school you cannot claim residency. That comes when you are out of school and working for a year in a certain state. I am sure it differs from state to state.</p>
<p>Thanks for your thoughts. He’s in CA & may want to go there for grad school. Any more experience?</p>
<p>Was thinking of not claiming a child as dependent for a couple of years so that child might qualify for financial aid for professional school…then found that they look at the past 6 tax returns!!!</p>
<p>Don’t know how far back CA, or any other state, looks for residency, though.</p>
<p>If you’re talking about the UC system, unmarried grad students are considered financially independent if they were not claimed as a dependent on the parents’ tax return for the previous year (or are 24 years old). </p>
<p>But you would still have the problem of establishing his permanent presence in CA for one full year prior to his application for classification as a resident for tuition purposes, since they will not count time spent in the state for the primary purpose of education. In other words, since he is a full-time student now, this year – and his 3 previous years – in CA won’t count. </p>
<p>His best bet might be to take a full-time job in CA for a year after receiving his undergraduate degree and then applying to grad school.</p>
<p>Details can be found in this link:</p>
<p>[University</a> of California - Admissions](<a href=“http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/ca_residency.html]University”>http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/undergrad_adm/ca_residency.html)</p>
<p>Yea, we were thinking about that. He might benefit from working for a bit anyway. Not sure if he can prove financial independence anyway. He will turn 24 after one year of working in CA after graduating anyway. Sounds more & more like we ought to just get whatever benefit we can by claiming him as a dependent in 2008 but still have him file CA tax return for his campus job.</p>