So, is this regardless of income. As long as I am providing him more than half support, even if his income is high, I can still claim him as dependent?
If his income is highâŠhow would you be contributing more than half of his support? Your contribution would need to be more than his incomeâŠright?
He will be also living with us full time
Support is quantified by his income on his taxes?
@Kanika_D these dependent things are for tax purposes. NOT for financial aid purposes. Once your older kid graduates from undergrad school, he will no longer count as a kid in college on your daughterâs financial aid forms. And really, that matters far more than him being a dependent in terms of college net costs. WellâŠ.until the 2023-2024 forms when having a sibling in college wonât matter on the FAFSA at least.
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@BelknapPoint can clarify this. But if your kid is earning a certain amountâŠhow would you be able to say you provide more than half of his support if you are not contributing MORE than that amount?
In your first post you said that you are low income and that your son will be graduating next year with an engineering degree. In a later post you asked if you can still claim your son as a tax dependent after he graduates with an engineering degree as long as you are providing more than half his support, even if his income is high.
If you are low income, and your son earns a high salary after he graduates, what incentive is there for you to continue providing more than half of his support?
I donât if this info would be helpful to contexualize her FA situation, but our daughter is a questbridge college prep school, and will most likely be a finalist. We forego the national match (because of the competitive nature & rushed deadline for supplements) . she will be applying to qb as a finalist in QB regular deicision.
Thatâs wonderful. Hoping Questbridge works out.
But thatâs the disconnect, what quantifies âmore than half of his supportâ. Is that legally determined, by his annual income?
What is his support, the income he earns, each year? The IRS has very vague info on this.
Iâll punt. If your son has an annual income of sayâŠ$50,000 a year as a starting engineer, I canât see how you would be providing more than half of his support unless you are paying more than that.
The incentive is that we will still have the same number of members in our household. If he is no longer a dependent, the household size decreases, and our EFC will most likely increase by a lot, and I donât see us being able to afford that.
The household size has MINIMAL effect on your EFC or college net cost.
The impact is when there are two enrolled in college. But even that goes away in 2023-2024.
You would need a LOT of people as members of your household for this to impact EFCâŠa LOT.
Yes, his income is considered his support. Unless you are providing more than his income in the way of support, he can not be your dependent.
Edited to add: I am hoping that you are not pressuring him to move home after he graduates college. He should be able to choose where he wants to live and what job he wants to accept after school.
I know @thumper1 answered this, but what is your take, does household size decreasing have an impact on financial aid for our daughter?
Minimally (much smaller than the current impact on EFC of two kids in college)
No, he is actually the one who is telling me. He is very invested in his sister, and wants her to graduate from a top college. But is worried whether his salary prospect will have any impact on the crazy costs per year of a private college, and for her incurring debt & loans. He was fortunate enough to have minimal amount for us to pay throughout his four years, and would like the same to be for his sister.
Use Worksheet 3-1 on page 30 of IRS Pub 17.
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His salary will have nothing to do with her financials, ever. He will be an independent, even if he lives at home. Her FAFSA and CSS Profile will not include his income or assets.
Please keep us updated on QB, and if she becomes a finalist next week. Even if she didnât rank her top 12 schools, she will likely be able to get her apps in early to certain schools.