I have a tax related question I could use some help with.

[jchaplick]

Ok so as some of you may know, I live in NJ but go to school in PA, I would like to change my drivers license over to PA, it will make lot of things so much easier, voting, hunting/fishing licenses ect.. I know I will stay on my parents insurance, but what I want to know is if they will still be able to claim me on their taxes, I am 90% sure they can, I just want to know for sure.
I have all the requirements for residency, I have my own apt that I have and everything like that.
I could really use some input
Thanks
John

 

[wildcat]

To my knowledge, if you are a fulltime student and your parents continue to support you, regardless of where you live, they can still claim you as a dependent. Do you file as a fulltime student?

 

[jchaplick]

Do you file as a fulltime student?

Yes definitely, at the moment I am over full time haha, I call it too much time

 

[wnghanglow]

Go to an H&R block or whatever tax preparation company you have in your state, thu will normally answer questions like this or free and without an appointment. As for your question though yes if your full time in college your parents can claim you, no matter what state your in. Since my father gets a larger tax break than I do he claims me and I have lived with him in 5 years!

 

[jaysin]

Dependents & Exemptions
Question: If I claim my daughter as a dependent because she is a full-time college student, can she claim herself as a dependent when she files her return?
Answer: If you can claim your daughter as a dependent on your income tax return, she cannot claim herself on her income tax return.
If an individual is filing his or her own tax return, and the individual can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return, the individual cannot claim his or her own personal exemption.

In this case, your daughter should check the box on her return indicating that someone else can claim her as a dependent.

from

http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq/0,,id=199716,00.html

 

[zanthal]

And you have 350+ days to figure it out. Let the IRS do the counting ::

 

[rcstan]

Jchaplick,
As a RTRP ( Registered Tax Return Preparer ) with the IRS I can tell you that : as long as you are between the ages of 18 and 24, a FULL time student and un-married, as long as your parents are providing more than half of your support, they can still claim you. IF they are claiming you, you cannot claim yourself. They can claim all the education credits for you, you cannot claim your own. Neither can you claim an exemption for yourself.
I advise AGAINST going to H&R and the little places unless you ask for a senior preparer. Most of the young cats in there have basic data entry and no tax experience whatsoever.
As far as changing your residency ..... the IRS says as long as those afore-mentioned conditions are met, you don't have to live with them. Or in the same state.

 

[jchaplick]

As a RTRP ( Registered Tax Return Preparer ) with the IRS I can tell you that : as long as you are between the ages of 18 and 24, a FULL time student and un-married, as long as your parents are providing more than half of your support, they can still claim you. IF they are claiming you, you cannot claim yourself. They can claim all the education credits for you, you cannot claim your own. Neither can you claim an exemption for yourself.

As far as changing your residency ..... the IRS says as long as those afore-mentioned conditions are met, you don't have to live with them. Or in the same state.

All of those afore-mentioned conditions are met, so I guess Im good.
Thank you very much, thats exactly the advice I needed.

 

[mjtannen]

As a retired IRS examiner I would second Jchaplick. You may learn all you need to know by reading (on the web) IRS Publication 17.

 

[winton]

While I agree with the advice given here, I recommend checking out www.irs.gov for questions about taxes rather than an online forum on a completely different subject matter. Granted the answers given are correct, but you could have received a very wrong answer.

 

[jchaplick]

@ Winton, I totally understand, I just figured some one here was bound to know something, I have done all the research, but there isnt anything that totally specifies my question. I have done taxes one time in my whole life, I figured it could hurt to try and gather some of the collected knowledge of literally hundreds of years of experience that is available on the site. I figured it couldnt hurt

 

[winton]

@Jchaplick, Cool. I figured you had thought this through, but just wanted to give the warning. Yes, we are the smartest, wisest group you could ask, but we also allow newbees.
Winton

 

[papipeguy]

I'm a bit lost here. I understand the tax issue re your parents' claiming you as a dependent but as to why you think Pa residency is a better path for you escapes me.

I live in Bethlehem,Pa having moved from NJ over 20 years ago. As a student you need to meet the residency requirements for a driver's license and other permits as a resident. You'd have to surrender your NJ license for starters. Any job you would work at will be taxed at the Pa state level AND the local income tax ranging from 1-8% depending on where you live here.

If you register a car here your insurance MAY be lower than NJ but the cost and hassle of doing so is more than NJ. Here registration is $36/year but you also have the expense of safety and environmental testing which can cost as much as $75 depending on where you live and not all garages are permited to do both tests. So what advantage do you think you're going to get?

 

[lordnoble]

So what advantage do you think you're going to get?

He won't be from Jersey anymore and have to endure Jersey Shore jokes! JK! :rofl:
-Jason