Hello,

I am a 21 year old college student in my final year of school. For the past 3 years, I have been filing as a dependent to my mother on taxes for FAFSA, and won't need to apply for it this year. My mom is saying I still need to file as a dependent and is pressuring me to do so, however, I don't live with her and haven't lived with her for a year and know that will be a huge blow to her tax return. She has my 1098t forms from my school and says she needs to file it with her taxes and that I also have to be under her taxes for that reason.

The university even told me that I can file as independent and would certainly prefer to do so in order to use whatever I get back to help me start paying the school back.

My questions are: 1) can I file as independent this year? 2) how can I prove this to my mom? 3) what do I do if she already filed for taxes claim me as her dependent? Appreciate the help!

#1aslongas you meet all the IRS rules for "qualifying child/relative" Because you are a student that Must be under age 19 or under 24 and a full-time college student for at least 5 months., and because your mother is providing a roof over your head she is providing more than half of your financial support for the way the IRS computes it. Must have the same residence for more than half the year with her. As a dependent, you don't get an education credit, it goes to your mother. You wouldn't be able to get an education credit even if she couldn't claim you - you wouldn't qualify for several reasons.

#2;it depends; You are required to file a federal income tax return if your income is above a certain level, which varies based on your filing status and age, as well as the type of income that you receive.For the year 2013, if your filing status is SINGLE and at the end of 2013 you were UNDER AGE 65, then you must file a return if your GROSS INCOME was at least $10k; $6100+$3900UNLESS you are a 3; as saidabove, also, aslongas you must have provided more than half of your own support during the year, then she can’t claim you.if not, whether or not she claims you on her return is up to her intention.i mean aslongas she meets requirements to claim you as her dependent, she can do it.


#3; If you yourself can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return, you cannot claim any dependents on your own tax return. If both you and your mom claim you, the IRS computers will recognize that two poeple claimed you and that isn't legal, and you'll both be asked to prove your claim, then one of the other WILL be disallowd. On an electronic (e-filed) return, you will not be able to claim yourself as independent if you have already been claimed, even if the original claim was wrong. If you try to e-file a return on which you claim yourself as independent, it will be rejected. If you are absolutely certain that you are entitled to claim yourself as independent, then you may claim yourself as independent on a paper return that you file by U.S. mail. Doing so after being claimed by someone else absolutely guarantees an IRS inquiry. If the IRS determines that you are correct, then they will require your mother to return the money that she should not have received and may charge her penalties.