Can my 18-year-old with a part-time job file taxes separately while I still claim him as a dependent?

My son turned 18 last October and he's currently working part-time while being a full-time student at the local community college. He brings home around $800-900 a month from his job at the grocery store. All of his money goes toward his car payment, gas, some school supplies, and whatever else teenagers spend money on these days. I'm still covering all the major expenses - rent, utilities, food, health insurance, cell phone, and even most of his school costs. He lives at home full-time and I'm definitely providing over half of his support. From what I understand, I can still claim him as a dependent since he's a full-time student under 24 and I provide most of his support. But here's my question - can he still file his own tax return based on his part-time income and potentially get his own refund, while I also file as head of household and claim him as my dependent? I want to make sure we're both getting the right tax benefits without messing anything up. Thanks for any advice!

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18 comments

Zoe Gonzalez

•8M

Yes, your son can absolutely file his own tax return while you still claim him as a dependent! These are two separate things that often get confused. When your son files his own return, he'll need to check the box that says "Someone can claim you as a dependent." This doesn't prevent him from filing or getting a refund of his withheld taxes - it just means he can't claim certain credits or deductions that are only for independent taxpayers. Since he's making under $1,000 monthly at a part-time job, he'll likely get back most or all of his federal withholding when he files. Meanwhile, you can still claim him as your dependent and file as Head of Household, which gives you a better tax bracket and a higher standard deduction than filing as Single. The key requirements you're already meeting: he's a full-time student under 24, lives with you, and you provide more than half his support. The fact that he has his own income doesn't disqualify him as your dependent unless he provides more than half of his own support (which doesn't sound like the case here).

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Zoe Gonzalez

•8M

If your 18-year-old made $9,000, they're actually required to file their own tax return because that amount exceeds the filing threshold for dependents (which was $12,950 for earned income in 2022, but only $1,150 for unearned income like interest). Whether your dependent files their own return or not doesn't affect your ability to claim them as a dependent on your return. These are completely separate processes. You can still claim them as your dependent even if they don't file when they're supposed to, but it's always best to comply with filing requirements to avoid potential issues with the IRS down the road.

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Alexis Robinson

•8M

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Alexis Robinson

•8M

It mainly analyzes your specific tax situation and explains the rules that apply to you in plain English. You answer questions about your circumstances, upload any relevant tax documents, and it breaks down exactly what you need to know. It doesn't file for you, but it clarifies which forms you need and how to complete them correctly. For complex situations with scholarship income, it's actually particularly helpful. It explains which portion of scholarships might be taxable (room and board vs. tuition), how that impacts your daughter's filing requirements, and whether it affects the support test for claiming her as a dependent. The tool helped me understand that my daughter's merit scholarship didn't count toward her providing her own support.

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Chloe Mitchell

•8M

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Michael Adams

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Samantha Hall

•8M

Yes, it delayed our refunds by about 3 months and we had to submit additional documentation proving I provided more than half his support. Super frustrating! Also make sure he understands he won't get certain credits like the recovery rebate credit or earned income credit that are only for independent filers. My son was confused because TurboTax initially calculated a bigger refund before he marked himself as a dependent. The software correctly adjusted it, but he thought he was doing something wrong because the refund amount dropped.

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