Standard Deduction For Dependents
December 13th, 2008Question: Should freshman college expenses be claimed on my Fed taxes with her as my dependent? What can be claimed?
I have a mortg and have always claimed single head of household with 3(me, 2 under 18) exemptions and took standard deduction of $7950. Now 1exmpt turned 18 May 2006, graduated in June and is a freshman in college. She only made 2000.00 this year. Can she file with no exmpts and I still claim her and deduct the expenses of her computer etc.. on my taxes this year and itemize? Need help.
Answer: Yes, if she lived with you over half the year and didn’t provide more than half of her own support, which with income of $2000 she probably did not. If she was away at school living in a dorm or a student apartment, but your address was still listed as her permanent address, then that time counts as living with you even though she was physically somewhere else.You are correct, she’ll file with no exemptions, and you’ll get the exemption for her.
Expenses of a computer don’t qualify for the educational credits. Tuition and fees do, and possibly a very limited number of other expenses. You will claim the educational credit for her on your return as long as she’s your dependent. As a freshmanu’ in college, she’d be eligible for the Hope Credit which is usually better than the Lifetime Learning Credit.
Standard deduction this year for head of household is $7550 unless you’re age 65 or over, or blind.
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