<p>S will be graduating college in May and starting grad school in the fall. Can I claim him for taxes this year and next? It seems like I can. More importantly, should I? I'm trying to scour the internet and the forum for info and not finding much. Will he have to file his own taxes for fafsa since he will be independent for grad school? He hasn't even earned $500 this year. Next year, hopefully(!!) he will have a stipend of some sort so that could go up. Looking for any insight or directions to where I can find information regarding this stuff for grad school.</p>
<p>Whether he is a dependent on your tax return or not, he will be independent for FAFSA. And you might remind him to file an estimated FAFSA in January or February to meet the school’s priority deadlines, this allows the school to offer work study monies for some of the funding.</p>
<p>I do believe that you can claim him as a dependent this year.</p>
<p>I’m not clear on the this year and next year references. Do you mean tax years 2012 and 2013? In any case, if he only has $500 earned income and not much unearned income in 2012, he doesn’t have to file. And you can claim him as a dependent because you must have provided him over 1/2 his support.</p>
<p>Here’s a link to irs pub 501 which has the info. You want to look at ‘exemptions for dependents’ and the 5 tests to claim him as a qualifying child. Also look at ‘who must file’.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf[/url]”>http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf</a></p>
<p>I’m pretty sure stipends are considered support that the student provided themselves, unlike scholarships and grants. So depending on the amount of the stipend, it probably won’t affect tax year 2013 because it’s only 4 months, but could affect tax year 2014 if he gets a full year of the stipend. You need to run the numbers on who provided how much support.</p>
<p>College age students always have to file their own taxes if their income is high enough to require filing. But he shouldn’t have to file a return if not required just because of fafsa. Independent for financial aid is unrelated to dependent for taxes.</p>
<p>In a year when he doesn’t have to file you should always claim him as a dependent if the 5 tests are met. If he should have to file in the future and still qualified as your dependent, you just need to run the numbers both ways to see what works best in total.</p>