The tax code is a set of rules and laws. There is no one who is suggesting that anyone try to get away with something. Clearly if a parent is able to claim the child, and does, the child can't claim. But if the tax code for 2016 allows parents to claim their cadet as a dependent, and assuming it is far more beneficial for the parents to claim than it would be the child, why wouldn't the parents do just that?Interpret tax code however you'd like and hope it could stand up to an audit. When you get right down to it, the entire tax system is one giant honor system anyway!
Just ensure that you and your cadet/mid are on the same page and know what the other is doing. If both sets claim them as a deduction (both parent and child), you will both receive letters from the IRS, as only one may be claiming. Someone would have to do an amended return at that point.
You all make your own election. If some wish to dismiss what I have cited, or chuckle at my stupidity, that's OK too, and it wouldn't be the first time. Ask my wife. Lol. Taxes aren't due for a month and a half, so there is time to be certain, one way or another. But an argument based on what others have cited for years on this forum, or one made by someone who hasn't actually read the applicable rules for the current tax year, might not be the best. The rules change frequently, and it sure appears that the relevant rules for this debate have changed, and quite possibly in a very meaningful way.
I make this argument with lawyers in my courtroom now and then when they are relying on an old set of court rules, or an old statute which was modified. Guess what? At times a seemingly slight modification of a law can change the result 180 degrees. .....Just saying
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