Can an 18-year-old file as independent for 2023 taxes, then be claimed as dependent by parents at 19 for 2024 taxes?

Yes, your tax filing status can absolutely change from year to year based on your situation. The IRS determines dependency status based on several tests for each specific tax year - they don't care what your status was in previous years. For 2023, if you provided more than half of your own support and weren't a full-time student for at least 5 months, you were correct to file as independent. For 2024, if your parents are now providing more than half your support, they may be able to claim you as a dependent. Regarding FAFSA, there's actually a process for students whose parents haven't filed taxes. You can complete the FAFSA and indicate your parents haven't filed yet. You'll need to estimate their financial information as accurately as possible. Later, once they file, you can update your FAFSA with the correct information. Also, talk to your school's financial aid office - they deal with these situations regularly and can help you with a dependency override in some cases. Your parents should prioritize getting their back taxes filed soon - not just for your FAFSA, but to avoid growing penalties and interest on any taxes they might owe.

After reading about your situation, I went through something super similar last year with my younger brother's college applications. What saved us was using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to help estimate my parents' income information for his FAFSA. They hadn't filed for 2 years because of some business complications. The tool analyzed their bank statements and financial documents to create proper estimates for the FAFSA form, which was accepted while they worked on getting their actual taxes filed. The school financial aid office actually recommended it when we explained our situation. It definitely beats guessing random numbers and potentially getting flagged for verification later.

Just wanted to update everyone - I took the advice about taxr.ai and it's been a game changer! My parents were super hesitant at first (they're weird about finances) but the document analysis feature helped organize their scattered records from the past 3 years. The estimates it generated for my FAFSA were accepted by my school's financial aid office as "placeholder" figures. The best part is my parents are actually almost done filing their back taxes now. The system helped them identify some deductions they'd missed in their initial attempts, and they're actually getting a small refund for one of the years they thought they'd owe money on. My FAFSA is processing now and I should have my aid package finalized next month. For anyone in a similar situation with parents who haven't filed, definitely check it out - it saved me from having to take a semester off.

I feel your pain about the FAFSA situation. When I was dealing with something similar (parents refused to provide tax info for personal reasons), I spent WEEKS trying to reach someone at the IRS to get verification that my parents hadn't filed. Literally called over 30 times and kept getting disconnected. Finally found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes. They have a demo video of how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent was able to provide documentation confirming my parents' non-filing status, which my financial aid office accepted for a dependency override. Might be worth checking out if you need official confirmation from the IRS about your parents' filing status for your school. Way better than waiting on hold for hours only to get disconnected.

I have to eat my words and apologize for being so skeptical about Claimyr. After posting that comment, I decided to try it because I was at my wit's end trying to reach someone about my missing refund from last year. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 22 minutes (they estimated 25, so pretty accurate). The agent was able to trace my refund and found it had been flagged for review because of a mismatch with my reported income. They unflagged it while I was on the phone and my refund should be processed within 2-3 weeks. For anyone dealing with FAFSA issues related to parents' unfiled taxes, getting official verification of non-filing status directly from the IRS could be super helpful for your school's financial aid office. Definitely worth the time saved versus endless failed call attempts.

Something important nobody's mentioned yet - even if your parents claim you as a dependent in 2024, if you're 19 or older and not a full-time student, they might not qualify for certain tax benefits like the Child Tax Credit. The age cutoff for that is under 17, though they might still get a smaller dependent credit. Also, check if you qualify as a "qualifying child" or "qualifying relative" dependent. The tests are different. For qualifying child, you need to be under 19 (or under 24 if a full-time student) and live with them more than half the year. For qualifying relative, your income needs to be below $4,700 (2023 amount) and they need to provide more than half your support. Tax status changes between years happen all the time, especially with college students. The IRS won't flag this as suspicious.

Kinda off-topic but important for your FAFSA issue - have you considered asking your school about a "Dependency Override" for financial aid purposes? Even if your parents claim you on taxes, FAFSA might still consider you independent in special circumstances. I work in a college financial aid office, and we process these for students who have unusual situations with parents. You'd need to document why you can't provide parent info (their refusal to file taxes might qualify). Each school handles this differently, but it's worth asking about. This wouldn't affect your tax situation, just how FAFSA views your dependency status for aid purposes.

As someone who works with tax compliance, I want to emphasize that your parents really need to prioritize getting their back taxes filed ASAP. The longer they wait, the more penalties and interest accumulate - we're talking potentially thousands of dollars in additional costs. For your specific situation, the dependency status change is totally normal and legal. What matters for 2024 is whether you meet the dependency tests for that year - age (under 19 or under 24 if full-time student), residency (living with them more than half the year), and support (they provide more than half). One thing to watch out for: if your parents do claim you as a dependent for 2024, make sure YOU don't also claim your personal exemption when you file. This is a common mistake that triggers IRS matching programs and can delay processing for both returns. Also, document everything about your living situation and support provided. If there's ever a question about the dependency claim, you'll want records showing when you moved back home, what expenses your parents covered, etc. The FAFSA dependency override mentioned by Lucas is definitely worth exploring - that could solve your financial aid issues even if the tax situation stays complicated.