My son made over $4095 last summer and now I can’t claim him as dependent for 2016. He is currently a Junior at a private school. Does anyone know if this is the case even if we are paying for more than half of his college tuition/room and board books and supplies. Oh and because we can’t claim him as a dependent, we also can’t receive any of the tax credit on either. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
@BelknapPoint or @madison85 or @mommdc could you comment?
@FITmom2017 why don’t you think you can declare your son as a dependent on your taxes anymore? Is he a full time college student? You are providing more than half of his support.
I’m no tax expert here…but i think you CAN declare him as a dependent…but he has to be careful how he files.
@thumper1 TURBO TAX said I can’t 
I’ve verified this with various of sources on the definition of Depenant. If the amount of income earned is greater than $4095, then I can’t claim him.
I think that the gross income disqualification for claiming a dependent applies only to relatives who are not your children.
@JazzyTXMom - I think it’s because he doesn’t live with me. Maybe that’s the issue. I’m in state of Oregon and he attends School in Boston. Maybe I need to say he does live with me???
There is an exception for the $4095 income of dependents if the child is a student. You must have answered a question on TurboTax incorrectly about his occupation. Go back through and see if you listed him as a student.
@JazzyTXMom is correct. Even TurboTax knows this: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Return/INF12139.html You must be entering something wrong.
Like I said…I’m not a tax expert. Our kids went to college OOS and earned more than $4100 a year more than several times. We were still able to declare them as deoendents…because they WERE dependent…and we also used TurboTax.
@AboutTheSame - But one of the condition is “Does he live with you”
So even though he’s away at school for 7 months of the year, should I say he does??
Yes, he lives with you. The definition of ‘lives with you’ includes college students.
Yes…his permanent residence is YOUR home.
Another thing…when my kids went to college OOS, they still filed their income taxes using OUR address…and they filed state income taxes as residents here. They filed as OOS residents in the states where they earned money in college.
What all the above said. You’re good.
@twoinanddone @thumper1 THANK YOU!! Now i know where i messed up
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_2016_publink1000220886
Yes, I believe that a full time student under 24 who is away at college qualifies for “living at home”.
See Publication 501 above under Residency test
Also the income the student earned is only counted towards his support if he actually spent it on his support I believe.
@mommdc Thank you!!
Yes, he is classed as living with you all 12 months when away at school full time.
He will still file his own return but will not claim his own exemption. He will say on his return that someone else is able to claim him as an exemption.
“Note: A person is considered to have lived with you during periods of time when one or both of you are temporarily absent due to special circumstances such as:
Illness,
Education,
Business,
Vacation, or
Military service.
Note: It must be reasonable to assume that the absent person will return to the home after the temporary absence.”
@Grad2020n23x2 Thank you!
Not that it applies in this situation, or hopefully any others on CC, but detention in a juvenile facility is another temporary absence that still counts as living with you.
Believe it or not, kidnapped child count in certain circumstances. It’s the tax code. It doesn’t have to make sense.