Dependent or Not

[peggysioux]

Student going to school for one semester in 2020 who is 19 years of age. He was NOT a full-time student, but a part-time student at 11 credits (based on school's criteria - 12 credits signifies full-time). and he made just over the threshold of gross income of $4,300 so he does not qualify as a qualifying child (not a full-time student) nor a qualifying relative (didn't pass the gross income test), so is he eligible for the refundable portion of the AOC and the Stimulus monies?

Peggy Sioux

[TaxGuyBill]

Yes, he would qualify for both.

[MAJ]

Agreed - I have a number of them this year...
$1,800 RR + AOC or Tuition ($4k reduction of income) - depends on the circumstance.

Note: for AOC to take effect the student/taxpayer must be self-sufficient. So, the following must be FALSE otherwise Tuition takes precedence.

Conditions 1,2,3 must apply to the student:

1. The Student was:
   1. Under age 18 at the end of 2020, OR
   2. Age 18 at the end of 2020 and earned income was less than half of total support, OR
   3. a full-time student over age 18 under age 24 at the end of 220 and Earned Income was < than Half of the total support.
2. At least one parent was alive
3. A joint return is not being filed for 2020.

If the parent(s) were claiming the dependent the equation must be TRUE.
They are providing the 51% financial responsibility.

[ATSMAN]

A lot of college age kids this year received unemployment income almost equal to what they earned in their jobs!

[dtlee]

I had one who received 3 times what they earned from the job. He was a full time student who also used $15000 in loans to pay for school. Between everything he contributed $30K towards his own support, considerably more than half.

However, earned income was under $4K, so there was no way he was eligible for the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Credit. Negligible Kiddie Tax since he got the full standard deduction.

[Rapid Robert]

A lot of college age kids this year received unemployment income almost equal to what they earned in their jobs!

Only because of the extra amounts kicked in under CARES Act temporarily to supplement regular UI payments.

[ATSMAN]

Makes a mess of the support worksheet from previous years with these additional income. I already had 2 kids that provided almost 80 to 90% of their support.