Clarifying first tax year to report for FAFSA and if student needs to appear as dependent on taxes

Paying for College
1

My daughter will be going to college in fall of 2022. For FAFSA, I think this means my taxes for 2020 count, right?

Her father and I are divorced and I let him claim her as a dependent (either of us can claim it, but I usually let him claim it since he makes more money than I do). Does my daughter need to be a dependent on my taxes if we are using my income for FAFSA? Her father is probably not going to help pay for college, so she needs all the help she can get with aid. I am trying to figure out if I should not release my ability to claim her as a dependent for 2020 or if it doesn’t matter and I can continue to let him claim her as a dependent (I claim head of household).

Thanks!

2

It does not matter for FAFSA purposes if she is a dependent for tax purposes.

It DOES matter for taking the tax credits (AOTC or LLC). You won’t take those until you actually pay tuition, so you can make that decision later. Once she’s over 17, it is a $500 credit and not the more generous Child credit. You might want to warn ex that this is his last year to get her as a dependent.

3

@twoinanddone - Do you know if the parent who takes the AOTC or LLC can be a parent who is not the FAFSA parent?

4

Your taxes are separate from FAFSA. The student just needs to be your dependent to claim the credits (assuming there are educational expenses that qualify that is)

5

A corollary comment for you: The parental income that goes into FAFSA is the one the child lives with the most.

6

Thanks! That’s good to know. I will warn my ex that 2020 is the last year he can claim the child credit. He probably already knows it, but just in case, I don’t want him to get in trouble.

She lives with me the most. So that helps too. We were supposed to have joint custody and 50/50 time, but he moved far from her school district to live in the city so the reality now is she just sees him every other weekend and half the summer.