Just to Vent....

[AnythingsPossible]

So I have been working on my taxes this evening. Our son is no longer considered a dependent as he is 19 and away at college in the eyes of the IRS and as they do not consider him a dependent we can not deduct any of his education expenses that we help him pay. By not being able to claim him as dependent we lose a deduction and have lost the ability to claim his education expenses creating a 3,000 tax bill we now owe the IRS.
The interesting thing to me in this is that we can not claim him but he is required to claim our income for FAFSA purposes. In my opinion if the government wants to claim my money in regards to his schooling I should be able to claim him in regards to money the government wants from me. But the government does not agree!

[KarenSue]

My twin daughters are 19 and away at college. My husband does our taxes but I'm pretty sure we claim them.

[nanglgrl]

Yes college is considered a temporary absence and they can still be a dependent...at least I think

[Unregistered]

I agree with the previous posters. Here are the temporary absence guidelines: http://finance.zacks.com/can-claim-c...turn-1841.html

[Josiegirl]

As long as your ds is in college ft yes, I believe you can claim him!! Both my dds went to college and I claimed them until they stopped going ft.(One chose pt her last semester) Then they both moved away and now I can't claim them of course and wow, what a difference!
Who does your taxes??? I'd fight that one unless there's something else we don't know but I completely agree with the pps.

Oops, just saw that you're doing them yourself. But yes, you can claim him!!

[AnythingsPossible]

Thanks everyone. When going through the initial steps, it asked if he lived with us full time or temporary and I put temporary as he didn't live with us. After reading your posts I went back in and looked further. I was taking it to literal! So I fixed it and he is now claimed as a dependent! Thanks again!