My parents moved to Arizona in May 2014. I moved here in March. I plan on attending a community college here, and tuition is going to be four times as much for an out of state student. However, I would qualify for in-state tuition (one-fourth the cost I'm looking at) if my parents had claimed me on their taxes.

I filed my taxes January 22nd as an independent. I'm not sure when my parents filed their taxes (they file jointly), but they did not claim me as a dependent. I am wondering if I have any chance of amending their tax return to claim me so I can qualify for in-state tuition.

Would the 1040 work in this situation? Do I have to amend my tax return at the same time and change my status to dependent?

Please help me out, this is going to potentially save me several thousands of dollars if possible, thank you for your time.

I filed my taxes January 22nd as an independent. I'm not sure when my parents filed their taxes (they file jointly), but they did not claim me as a dependent. I am wondering if I have any chance of amending their tax return to claim me so I can qualify for in-state tuition. =====>>>>>>>>even If your parents claim you as a dependent on their return, you can/should still file your own tax return, depending on income situation. In fact, dependents with income face stricter filing requirements than other taxpayers. So, to claim you on their return, they need to file 1040X as they already filed their return and did not claim you on their return and you also need to file 1040X to file your return as a dependent NOT as an independent taxpayer if you should file your return also ;as you know filing requirements for a dependent and an independent are different. As a dependent of your parents, you still need to file your return if your unearned income,i .e., interest income, was $1k or your earned income was over $6,300 OR your gross income was more than the larger of $1k, unearned income, I mean, or earned income was $6,300.However, as a dependent, you CAN’T claim your dependent tax exemption, $4k, for 2015. Basically, they do not have to claim you. However, you need to understand that your parents will either save alot of money or get a bigger refund for claiming you. I am sure it will be alot more for them claiming you than if you claimed yourself.



Would the 1040 work in this situation? Do I have to amend my tax return at the same time and change my status to dependent?======>>yes aslongas you need to file return as a dependent, you need to indicate it on 1040x and your parents also indicate they claim you on their return. Basically, as you can see, it depends if you can be be claimed on their tax return. I mean, aslongas they meet the requirements to claim you as a qualifying child or qualifying relative, then they can ; however,


Please help me out, this is going to potentially save me several thousands of dollars if possible, thank you for your time.========>>> to claim an education tax credit, your parents must be paying the expenses for you , their dependent. The IRS makes no exception for children who cannot be claimed as a dependent for one reason or another. In the case of the tuition and fees deduction, if your parents pay for education expenses and you are NOT claimed as a dependent, the deduction is lost. However, you might be able to use the AOC Credit or the Lifetime Learning Credit.For the AOC and the Lifetime Learning Credit, qualifying educational expenses must be claimed by the person who gets to claim the student's exemption. If you can't be claimed as a dependent by parents, You get to claim your own exemption, and therefore get to take the education credit. Even if parents are paying the costs directly to the school, the IRS treats the parents as making a gift to you and then you paying the expenses. Therefore, you would get to take credit for the expenses paid by your parents.