Income Taxes ?

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funtime

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For those of you who have a son or daughter at one of the academies ~ how do you handle income taxes? Do you list them as a dependant or do they file seperate? I need to start thinking about next year. Thanks
 
Don't count on it.

USMA does an excellent job of counseling cadets AND parents. We basically were told that unless we provided $35,000 in support to our cadet from Jan 1, 2008 to Jun 30, 2008 we cannot claim them as dependents.
West Point provides tax counseling to all cadets and they help them file. BTW - they will also file in their home state as they are still "residents".

My advice - revise your W-4 now.
 
Just_A_Mom said:
Don't count on it.

USMA does an excellent job of counseling cadets AND parents. We basically were told that unless we provided $35,000 in support to our cadet from Jan 1, 2008 to Jun 30, 2008 we cannot claim them as dependents.
West Point provides tax counseling to all cadets and they help them file. BTW - they will also file in their home state as they are still "residents".

My advice - revise your W-4 now.
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Really... I would think that this would be the lst year I could claim her, since she is still a HS student and living in my home for atleast the first 6 months.

....

at USMMA the kids get no income, so I assume it is different with that institute?
 
I ran the same question by one of our Accountants in the Fall of Plebe year. He told me I could claim dependant status for that year. Mid would also have to file an individual tax return for that year and declare that they could be claimed as a dependant on someone else's return (rather than addding dependant income to family return which is most likely higher rate). Based upon their "pay" for that half year they should get all tax deductions refunded. After that initial half year, as a parent, you are out of luck. No more dependant status no matter what age. Worked out OK.
 
Since we are on the subject of Taxes?? My son who is an appointee for usma, also is currently in the Army Reserves, and a Senior in HS. He confronted me with this >> He turned 18 back in Oct.2008. He made an income from the Reserves for 2008 under $6,000. When he does his taxes, he wants to claim himself, and us (his parents) not claim him at all on our tax report this year. He wants to do that, because, he said that this way if the stimulus goes through, he will receive a check too??? I know this really doesn't have much to do with the Academy NOW, but I thought maybe one of you smart ppl would know this?? :biggrin:
 
I don't know if the other service academies provide guidance but here is a recap of the guidance we received from West Point:
The test of provide "half the support" is in regards to monetary support, not the length of time.
The added together for us the cadet pay received (W-2) over $5000 plus the pay advance by the government to purchase issued items - over $5000. They also added together the cost of room and board supplied by the government, about $1500 plus the cost of tuition for one semester, $25,000. The IRS doesn't count the tuition as a "scholarship" so this figure must be counted as "support".
This totaled about $39,000. (I was a little off in my above post)

As parents we are allowed to include the cost of room and board, tuition (if any) books, medical, dental care and insurance for 6 months.
Of course, each family situation is different and tax opinions may vary.
 
he said that this way if the stimulus goes through, he will receive a check too???
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hehe - he is pretty saavy. I will tell you what - college age kids got screwed. They were too old for us to take the child tax credit therefore none of my three dependents counted when I got my stimulus check last year.
If they had filed and claimed themselves then they each would have received a check.
You have to work it out - do it both ways and see what happens. I don't even know if we are getting checks or how much they will be but it's something to consider.
 
DiLa:
I am pretty sure your son is correct and JAM gives a good example. If I remember correctly as soon as they file individualy and declare they are claimed as a dependant on another return tax preperation software informed them they were not eligible for stimulus check. That is the good thing about the software. You can try different parameters and see what works.
 
The Air Force Academy's guidance is very similar to what J_A_M posted.

Last year we did not claim our cadet for the 2007 tax year because we could not show that we provided more support than USAFA did. Our cadet also got his stimulus payment that year because we did not claim him. Some USAFA parents did claim their cadets, based on discussions that I saw on the parent forums. Their calculations showed that they provided more than half the support for their cadet. The best advice is that each family will have a different situation. Explore both options and see which one gives you the best return.

Stealth_81
 
Just_A_Mom said:
They were too old for us to take the child tax credit therefore none of my three dependents counted when I got my stimulus check last year.
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He was too old to get the child tax credit last year also, being he was already over 17.

I guess he is too smart for his britches. Or me, for that matter.

Thanks for the replies--definitely gives me something to think about. I will have to do our taxes twice on paper, to see how much of a difference it will be if we claim him as a dependent or not. He has never made it easy for me:rolleyes:, but I love him!
 
Talk to your own tax consultant and decide for yourself - lots of opinion here and it may or may not be accurate for your individual circumstances

USNA, at PPW we were told exactly that. They did say that generally speaking you will be able to claim them for the year they start but not after that. They give a lot of assistance to the Mids on filing etc. But parent advice was not given.
 
Ok... I called IRS.. this is what I am doing. Since he is Single and made much less then the $9,***.** So, he doesn't have to fill out a return at all. BUT, the guy said he should, because he will get a refund. Second, We ARE GOING to Claim him as a dependent on our return, and he will NOT claim himself on his return. Next year is another story... guessing we won't be able to claim him at all................. THANK YOU all, for your very valuable input...
 
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