Is it more beneficial for us to claim our son who is a college student or should he claim himself when he files his taxes?

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Originally Posted by luielady

Is it more beneficial for us to claim our son who is a college student or should he claim himself when he files his taxes?

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You both can't claim the same exemption. If he files, then he claims the exemption from what I read here: "Unless you're a full-time student UNDER the age of 24, there are 5
Tests that you have to pass to be claimed as a dependent:

1. Member of household for the entire year or a relationship
2. Citizen or resident of the U.S. Canada or Mexico
3. You do not file a joint return test,
4. Your gross income test had to be under $3,100 (2004 tax year rules)
5. Your mother must provide more than half of your support

U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
?Topic 354 ? Dependents?
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc354.html

Note too that if you're filing an income tax return, only one of you
Can claim you as an exemption.

Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing
Information?

He's 22 and a full time student. We've always claimed him in the past. When I file his taxes he marks the box saying his claimed as a dependent by someone else.
I just didn't know which way would be the most beneficial.

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Originally Posted by luielady

He's 22 and a full time student. We've always claimed him in the past. When I file his taxes he marks the box saying his claimed as a dependent by someone else.
I just didn't know which way would be the most beneficial.

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Let me go find someone who knows 100%.

How much money does the son make a year?

We're still waiting for his W2. I think he made about 6,000. He claimed single and zero so they would take the most out for taxes.

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Originally Posted by luielady

We're still waiting for his W2. I think he made about 6,000. He claimed single and zero so they would take the most out for taxes.

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If you read what I posted - and the ceiling may have changed - your son must meet the following criteria in order for you to claim the exemption:

Unless you're a full-time student UNDER the age of 24, there are 5 tests that you have to pass to be claimed as a dependent: "... 4. Your gross income test had to be under $3,100 (2004 tax year rules)."

Is he a full-time student, under 24 - it appears he was over the wage limit.

Hope this helps: since your son is a full time student under age 24 you claim him as your dependent IF you paid for more than half his upkeep, regardless of how much money he made. If you can claim him as a dependent, then he can not claim himself on his own return - this is probably best anyway since your tax bracket is most likely higher than his.
See Pub 501, page 10 and 11 for details:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

I agree with ebaines; more than likely, claiming your son will benefit YOU much more than it will benefit him.

What you should do is prepare his return BOTH ways, then reimburse him for whatever the difference is on his refund. That way, you get the benefit of his exemption while he gets the same refund had he claimed himself.

That is what I do with my college-aged son, and that is what I recommend to all of my clients. It makes it a WIN-WIN situation.

If claiming your college student on your taxes, based on a parents W-2 return the student receives less federal funding than they would if they claimed themselves.

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Originally Posted by luielady

We're still waiting for his W2. I think he made about 6,000. He claimed single and zero so they would take the most out for taxes.

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What he's doing is loaning Uncle Sam money, interest free. Does he really want to do that?

The best way to answer your question is to figure it both ways, and see which is best.