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<p>Dependency for financial aid…and dependency for tax purposes are TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS. Your parents can claim you on their taxes if they are providing you with more than 1/2 of your financial support. Dependency for financial aid is predicated on the items already listed in previous posts.</p>
<p>If you are under the age of 24, your parents’ income and assets will still be reported on the financial aid forms. You can check with your particular college to see if there are any exceptions to this rule (other than marriage, being a veteran, having a dependent who YOU support, etc). Likely the answer will be no…but ask to find out.</p>
<p>E.g. DS is independent for finaid (he has his bachelors degree) but we contribute to his support so he is our dependent on our taxes.</p>
<p>We have a friend whose son worked for a year prior to college. When he applied, he was a dependent for financial aid purposes (he was only 20 years old), but because he was self supporting during that gap year, his parents did NOT declare him on their taxes…they were not providing more than 1/2 of his financial support.</p>