Can I Claim My 18-Year-Old on Taxes While They File Their Own Return?

Yes, you absolutely can claim your 18-year-old as a dependent while she also files her own tax return! This is actually a very common situation with college students. Here's what you need to know: You can claim her as your dependent if she meets the qualifying child tests: she's your daughter, under 24 and a full-time student, lives with you more than half the year (temporary absences for education count as living with you), and you provide more than half of her support. Based on what you described, she meets all these criteria. She should still file her own tax return for her income from the mall job. When she files, she'll need to check the box that says "Someone can claim you as a dependent" on her tax return. She can still get a refund of any income tax withheld from her paychecks, even though you're claiming her as a dependent.

I went through a similar situation last year and found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really cleared things up for me. My son is 19 and working part-time while in college, and I was so confused about whether I could claim him and if he could file his own return. What I loved about taxr.ai is that it analyzed our specific situation and showed exactly how the dependent rules applied to us. It confirmed that my son should check the "can be claimed as dependent" box on his return while I claimed him on mine. The tool even showed us how much we'd save by doing it correctly versus making a mistake.

I gotta admit I was wrong about taxr.ai! After seeing the responses here I decided to give it a shot with my daughter's situation (she's at college most of the year). The tool was actually super helpful - it walked me through exactly how to handle her dorm situation and confirmed that yes, those months still count as living with me for dependent purposes. It also showed me that both of us were filling out our tax forms incorrectly last year - she wasn't checking the "can be claimed as dependent" box, which could have triggered an audit. The system even calculated how much I saved by claiming her properly with the education credits. Definitely worth checking out if you're in this situation!

If you're struggling to get answers directly from the IRS about dependent situations (like I was), I highly recommend Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS to verify if I could claim my 18-year-old who has both scholarship and job income. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I had been trying for weeks. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent walked me through all the qualifying child tests and confirmed that my son could file his own return while I still claimed him. Such a relief to get an official answer!

Ok I need to apologize publicly. I tried Claimyr yesterday after posting that skeptical comment because I was at my wit's end with the IRS. I had been trying to confirm if I could claim my son (who has a side hustle making about $12k a year while in college) as a dependent. I got connected to an IRS agent in 22 minutes! The agent confirmed that yes, since I provide over half his support and he's a full-time student under 24, I can absolutely claim him as a dependent even though he's filing his own return. She also explained exactly which box he needs to check on his return. This literally saved me thousands in tax benefits I was about to give up on. I'm still shocked it actually worked.

One thing to watch for - make sure your daughter's workplace isn't withholding too little from her paychecks! My son's part-time job wasn't taking enough out, and since he was claimed as my dependent, he ended up OWING taxes instead of getting a refund. He was pretty upset since he expected money back. If your daughter's job has her complete a W-4, make sure she indicates that she's a dependent on someone else's return. This helps ensure enough tax is withheld throughout the year.

Has anyone dealt with scholarship money in this situation? My daughter gets a partial scholarship that covers about 60% of her tuition. I pay the rest plus all living expenses. I'm worried this complicates the "providing more than half support" calculation.

Just wanted to add my experience to help others in similar situations. My 19-year-old son is in his second year of college and works about 20 hours a week at a local restaurant. He makes around $15,000 annually, but I still cover tuition, room and board, health insurance, and his car payment - which adds up to way more than what he earns. The key thing I learned is to keep good records of what you're paying for throughout the year. I track all the major expenses like tuition payments, housing costs, food allowances, insurance premiums, etc. This makes it much easier to prove you're providing more than half their support if the IRS ever questions it. Also, don't forget about the education credits! Since I claim him as a dependent, I'm eligible for the American Opportunity Credit which can be worth up to $2,500 per year. That's a huge tax benefit that makes claiming him as a dependent even more valuable than just the dependent exemption alone. My son files his own return and gets back most of what was withheld from his paychecks, and I get the dependent benefits plus education credits. It really is a win-win situation when done correctly.