Question

the samsons are trying to determine whether they can claim their 22-year-old adopted son, jason, as a dependent. jason is currently a full-time student at an out-of-state university. jason lived in his parents' home for three months of the year, and he was away at school for the rest of the year. he received $9,800 in scholarships this year for his outstanding academic performance and earned $4,980 of income working a part-time job during the year. the samsons paid a total of $5,240 to support jason while he was away at college. jason used the scholarship, the earnings from the part-time job, and the money from the samsons as his only sources of support. a. Can the Samsons claim Jason as their dependent?b. Assume the original facts except that Jason’s grandparents, not the Samsons, provided him with the $5,000 worth of support. Can the Samsons (Jason’s parents) claim Jason as their dependent?

Answer 1

a. Based on the information provided, the Samsons may be able to claim Jason as their dependent. To claim a qualifying child as a dependent, the child must meet several tests such as the relationship test, age test, residency test, support test, etc.

In this case, Jason meets the relationship test as he is the Samsons' adopted son. He also meets the age test as he is under 24 and a full-time student. Although he lived in his parents' home for only three months of the year, he still meets the residency test as he is considered to be a member of the household while away at school.

To meet the support test, Jason must not have provided more than half of his own support during the year. In this case, Jason's total support was $9,800 + $4,980 + $5,240 = $20,020. Since the Samsons provided $5,240 of this amount, which is less than half of his support, they passed the support test.

Therefore, based on the information provided, the Samsons can claim Jason as their dependent.

b. If Jason's grandparents, not the Samsons, provided him with the $5,000 worth of support, the Samsons would not be able to claim Jason as their dependent.

To claim a qualifying child as a dependent, the taxpayer must provide more than half of the child's total support during the year. In this case, Jason's total support was $9,800 + $4,980 + $5,000 = $19,780. Since the Samsons provided only $5,240 of this amount, which is less than half of his support, they would not pass the support test.

Therefore, based on the information provided, the Samsons would not be able to claim Jason as their dependent if his grandparents provided him with the $5,000 worth of support.