- quote -

Google Is Your Friend.

- quote -

http://www.google.com/search?q=Harva...utf-8&oe=utf-8

- quote -

That's undergraduate, and per year.

- quote -

Is that legal if the child is over 18? (Under 18, sure.)

- quote -

But if the student is independent, the presumed parental
contribution is $0, which can't be _worse_ for the student.

- quote -

For a couple of years. Harvard's tuition was a lot lower
then (by about an order of magnitude).

- quote -

That was the first part of the program. Then came loans,
then gifts. (Loans wouldn't count as support, right?)

Seth

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- quote -

GIYF???

Are you KIDDING me? one year's tuition 35,950????
that's highway robbery, extortion, too. But maybe some
people might just pay that much for a Harvard law degree.

- quote -

Don't know, but seems that it should count as part of
support. Who knows?

- quote -

Sounds like he/she thought parents would be also filing
his/her return without his/her participation. Some do
that you know, and without a POA.

- quote -

AS I understand it, a student is either dependent (and
parents' income is pertinant) or is independent, in which
case parents' income is irrelevant. that's what I meant.

Parents SHOULD help by all means. Mine did, and I bet yours
did, too.

Of course back then "financial aid" was referred to as W O R
K.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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- quote -

GIYF. He didn't say where he goes. Harvard's tuition this
year was $35,950, which puts a big dent in the $40K.

- quote -

Does the financial aid count? To whom?

- quote -

The refund on _his_ taxes is his. The refund on _their_
taxes is theirs.

- quote -

I don't understand that one. Back when I was a student,
parents with income could only _reduce_ the amount of
financial aid available, since they were expected to
contribute.

Seth

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unim_keyclub[at]hotmail.com wrote in news:110jae2c66up163

- quote -

Certainly you can and should file your own taxes. If your
parents will claim you as a dependent (and there are good
tax reasons for them that they should), you cannot claim
yourself. However, that doesn't mean that you don't file
your taxes, and it doesn't mean that you won't get money
back. And, if you file in your own name (which is the
_only_ way for you to get a refund on taxes withheld from
your pay), any refund will be made out to you, not to your
parents.

One other thing you should do in your copious free time
<grin> is figure out how to deal with all this pesky
grown-up stuff like tracking your own finances, balancing
your accounts, tracking and managing your debt, and learning
about taxes and tax strategies. Your childhood is rapidly
ending; it just gets hairier from here on out. (There are
other compensations, but simplicity is not one of them!)

Good luck.

Catherine

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You did not give us your age which may or may not be
relevant to this issue. In any case your parents cannot
steal your refund check. It will be made out to you and can
only be negotiated with your endorsement. You are able to
sign your own name so you can file your own income tax
return. If your parents claim you as a dependent you will
not get to deduct the $3100 exemption from your income. You
will pay tax on the additional amount. If they do not claim
you as a dependent, you will get the $3100 dependency
exemption and get a larger refund. Given that your parents
are probably in a higher tax bracket than you and that you
are probably under the age of 24, they should claim the
exemption for you on their tax return as they have been
since you were born.

Linda Dorfmont E.A., CFP, CSA

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unim_keyclub[at]hotmail.com wrote:

- quote -

In order for your parents to claim you as their dependent,
you would have to be under age 24 and your parents would
have had to provide more than 50% of your total support.
There is not enough information available to us to make the
support determination. If you are their dependent you are
still required to file your own tax return based on the
income you listed. Your income does not go on their tax
return. You may not claim your own personal exemption. You
are entitled to your own standard deduction or you may elect
to itemize your deductions.

There are many places to have your return prepared for free.
Here's just one:
http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

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"unim_keyclub[at]hotmail.com" <unim_keyclub[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

Regardless of whether or not you trust your parents, how is
it that they could take YOUR money? YOU have to sign the
return, any check or direct deposit is directed by YOU.
THEY have no control over that. As for the independence
issue, you don't have much of a choice. They either can
claim you (and it seems they can) or they can't. That's the
issue. Not whether you want them to or not.

If it is such a big issue, tell them off and do it yourself.
1040EZ shouldn't be a problem for a college student.....

--
David M. Woods, EA, ChFC, CLU
Woods Financial Services
Norwood, MA 02062
www.woods-financial.com

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unim_keyclub[at]hotmail.com wrote:

- quote -

Let me get this straight now. YOu get 40,000$ in financial
aide AND earn over 8,000$ and claim you are just a
struggling college student? Somehow I don't understand
this.

Anyway, it's a question of fact, as to who provided more
than half of your support. If your parents did, then THEY
claim your exemption; it's not up to you to decide. In
this case, you don't claim your own exemption of 3,100 on
which you would save maybe 10% in tax but your parents would
claim you and save tax money on that same 3,100$ at whatever
their rate is. And btw, the taxes you say were withheld
most likely include social security taxes (FICA) which are
NOT refundable.

AND, they are under no obligation whatsoever to split any
refunds with you. Be thankful you have parents who are
helping you out.

On the other hand, if you really ARE independent, yoou
shouldn't be obtaining financial aide by relying on parents
and their income.

ChEAr$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA n LA

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unim_keyclub[at]hotmail.com wrote:

- quote -

You can (and must) file a federal tax return.

As long as your financial aid is not taxable income to you,
you should get a refund of most of your federal withholding
regardless of whether your parents claim you as a dependent
(if they do, you will get less back, but you will still get
most of it back). If your financial aid is in the form of
loans, none of it is taxable income to you. If any of it is
scholarships or grants, some of it may be taxable.

You can declare whatever you want, but if your parents
provided more than 50% of your support (which includes
living and education expenses, among other things), you may
not claim your own exemption (you must file as a dependent).
If you receive federal financial aid, declaring that you
are independent should not affect that situation. The
criteria for being considered independent for federal
financial aid are different from dependency rules for tax
purposes, and if you meet them, I think it usually benefits
you.

Your tax refund (not return) would come as a check in your
name or a direct deposit to an account with your name on it.
You would have to sign the tax return (not refund), which
would indicate the address or bank account where you want
your refund sent. Your parents would not get the money
without your authorization.

If you can fill out an application for college or financial
aid, you can do your own tax return. Go get the form and
booklet from the library and follow the directions.

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unim_keyclub[at]hotmail.com wrote:

- quote -

If you're a full-time student under the age of 24, and they
provided more than half of your support, you're their
dependent. They get your exemption, and you don't.

- quote -

Not relevant. The education credits follow the dependency
exemption.

- quote -

Your Federal tax liability should be about $388. To the
extent that the number in Box 2 of your W-2 is more than
that, you will get a refund. File a 1040-EZ, and any
relevant state returns. A big chunk of the taxes withheld
were Social Security and Medicare taxes, shown in boxes 4
and 6. You won't get those back.

Phoebe

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<unim_keyclub[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

The first question is whether you really are your parents'
dependent. Take a look at the support test in Publication
501. It may very well be that you're not their dependent.

Note: I'm assuming your parents are no longer contributing
to your support. If they are, starting a row over this is a
sure way to see that there's no ambiguity for 2005.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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I have searched all over :
(IRS.gov),(misc.taxes.moderated),and (fatwallet - finance)
and I have been unable to find an answer that would help me
out with my situation which I think many students are faced
with. So, first off, here is the situation :

* Parents want to claim me as dependent on tax returns and
will be doing so. Parents helped financially with tuition to
some extent throughout 2004.
* I am currently a full time student and was during 2004
* I get a substantial amount of financial aid (~$40k) -
financial aid package
* I acquired a summer job during 04' which brought in the
following :
- ($2900 - taxes = $2276) monthly
- Worked for 3 month -> ($8700-$1872(taxes) = $6828)
* I have documented receipts and transactions that show I
put forth approximately $3000 towards my school expenses.

Now, to my understanding, I should be able to get a
substantial amount of the $1872 worth of taxes that was
withheld from my check back but I could be completely
wrong?... I am not trusting of my parents to handle my taxes
with regards to my summer income and possible returns
because I don't think they will give the money to me (my
return amnt.). I don't want to jeopardize my financial aid
situation by declaring that I am an independent. So, I was
wondering the following :

* Can I file and get $$$$ returns (if it is even possible
given my above situation) while still being a dependent on
my parent's taxes?

I would greatly appreciate any advice on this matter. I am a
struggling college student who is unaware of the "tax filing
game" and who doesn't fully trust his parents to "do the
right thing".

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