QUESTION:
Dear Taxman – My Daughter graduated from college in May of this year. She started working in September and expects to make about eleven thousand dollars this year. Can we still claim her as a dependent for this year?
ANSWER:
Dear Reader: To claim her as a dependent in any year, she must have been a full time student for at least one semester and you must have provided over half of her support for the year. Given her expected income of only eleven thousand I would say she probably will qualify as your dependent.
If your income is too high, you may not get to claim any tuition credits available but she might be eligible to claim them on her tax return. You should compute it both ways, once with her claiming herself and the tuition credits, and again with you claiming her and see which option works out the best!
“Ask The Taxman” originally appeared as a column in The Brunswick Citizen. All responses are written by Jim George, CPA. If you have a question for a CPA, contact us!