Can we claim a college student not our child as a dependent on our taxes?

You could potentially claim her as a "qualifying relative" dependent if she meets certain tests. Since she's living with you and you're providing more than half her support, you're on the right track. The main requirements you'd need to satisfy are: 1) her gross income must be less than $4,400 for 2023, 2) you must provide more than half her total support for the year, 3) she must live with you all year (temporary absences for education count as time living with you), and 4) she can't be claimed as a qualifying child of another taxpayer. The relationship test can be satisfied by her living with you as a member of your household for the entire year. College housing is considered a temporary absence. If her mother is still claiming her, that would create a conflict. The IRS would likely reject an e-filed return and you'd need to file by mail with documentation. Since the student hasn't lived with her mother, her mother likely doesn't have the right to claim her. I'd suggest documenting your support (receipts for groceries, housing costs, etc.) in case of questions. Also, consider having a conversation with the student about whether she's filing her own taxes and claiming herself.

After years of helping my brother with his complicated tax situation involving his college-age stepkids, I finally found a lifesaver tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped clarify dependent status questions just like yours. I was going in circles trying to figure out who could claim who based on living situations, support provided, and income requirements. The tool analyzed our specific scenario and laid out exactly what documentation we needed and which tests had to be satisfied to claim his stepson as a dependent. For your situation with the 20-year-old living with you, it would be particularly helpful since it breaks down the "member of household" test that applies in non-relative situations. It also clarified that temporary absences for education don't break the residency requirement.

I was initially skeptical about these online tax tools when dealing with a similar dependent situation with my nephew living with me while attending college. I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here, and it completely changed my understanding of dependent rules. The interface asked very specific questions about my nephew's living situation, who paid for what, and his student status. It then generated a detailed explanation of which dependent category he fell into (qualifying relative vs. qualifying child) and precisely what documentation I needed to keep. What impressed me most was how it addressed the exact scenario where another person (his mother) might also try to claim him. It gave me step-by-step instructions for how to handle the situation with the IRS and what forms I needed to file. The analysis even cited specific IRS publications that I could reference. For anyone dealing with complicated dependent situations like the OP, it's definitely worth checking out.

When I had a similar situation with my niece living with us during college, I spent WEEKS trying to get someone from the IRS on the phone for clarification. Literally would sit on hold for hours only to get disconnected. It was maddening! Finally found out about this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) from my tax preparer. You can actually see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically call the IRS for you and then connect you once they get a human on the line. I was connected to an IRS agent in about 20 minutes who confirmed we could claim my niece as a dependent as long as we provided more than half her support for the year and she lived with us at least half the year (with school housing counting as temporary absence). The agent also explained exactly what documentation we should keep in case the other parent also tried to claim her.

I need to eat my words. After posting that skeptical comment yesterday, I decided to try Claimyr as a last resort since my refund has been held up for months with no explanation. I figured it would be another waste of time and money, but I was desperate. I set it up in the morning expecting nothing to happen. About 30 minutes later I got a call connecting me DIRECTLY to an IRS agent. I almost fell out of my chair! The agent was able to tell me exactly why my refund was delayed (an income verification issue) and what I needed to submit to resolve it. She even gave me a direct fax number to send the documents. For the original poster - this would definitely help you get a definitive answer about claiming the student as your dependent and what documentation you need if her mother tries to claim her too. Worth every penny just to avoid the hold music alone.

Just to add another perspective - my wife and I were in almost the identical situation with my wife's younger cousin who lived with us throughout college. We provided housing, food, utilities, etc. while she was responsible for her own tuition (through loans) and personal expenses. We claimed her as a qualifying relative for two years with no issues. The key factors were: 1) She lived with us for more than half the year (college housing counted as temporary absence), 2) We provided more than half her total support, 3) Her income was under the threshold, and 4) Her parents weren't claiming her. Make sure you document everything though! Keep receipts for major expenses, utility bills showing your address as her residence, maybe even a written statement from her confirming the living arrangement. We didn't need any of this documentation, but better safe than sorry.

Has anyone used TurboTax to claim a non-relative dependent? I'm tryin to do this exact thing but the software keeps asking for a relationship and none of the options fit. Do I just pick "other dependent"??