tax return

Parents Forum
1

<p>Hi i'm a 21 year old full time college senior with a question. I'm a dependent of my mother so can i be part of her tax return or do i have to fill out my own because i turned 21 and have a small job as an independent contractor(which i guess means i have no job). We live in the same household. </p>

<p>Also on a perhaps related note. For some reason once i turned 21 my family's foodstamps got canceled because all of a sudden i wasn't considered part of the household anymore and my family of 3 now became a family of 2 for them, which now meant that the my mother's income is over the boundary for 2 people, even though not for 3. What's up with that? When my mom filled out the renewal food stamp form, she listed me as a dependent. I personally never received food stamps because i'm a full time college student without a full time job as they said was the requirement but i was always part of the household? so what is going on here?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>I can’t provide a specific answer without more information … which I will thank you NOT to provide. Here are a couple of relevant IRS web sites to start you on your journey:</p>

<p>[Do</a> You Need to File a Federal Income Tax Return?](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html]Do”>http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=96623,00.html)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040a.pdf[/url]”>http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040a.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
(Filing requirement begin on Page 6)</p>

3

<p>Being a dependent does not mean you are not required to file. If you had greater than $400 a year self-employment earnings, you need to file a federal return. State laws vary.</p>

4

<p>I forgot to mention that i receive college financial aid, how does that affect my position?</p>

5

<p>If your grant aid is greater than tuition and books, that money may be taxable. </p>

<p>Understand that different programs set different limits on who is a dependent. I suggest your mother talk to her case worker to understand how your age affected the family benefits.</p>

6

<p>If the ‘free’ money you received (scholarships + grant) were equal to or less than your tuition and fees, none of it is taxable. If it is more than tuition and fees (in other words, if, for example, you got scholarship/ grant money that covers your room and board), you will have to list that on your taxes as income. Loan $ does not fit into the equation; it is not taxable. </p>

<p>I do not know how, if at all, it affects your food stamps.</p>