Jump to content
ATX Community

What exactly is a "Full Time Student?"


Yardley CPA

Recommended Posts

It's my understanding that in order to satisfy the "Age" test, a qualifying child must be under 19 at the end of the tax year or under the age of 24 and attend school, full time, for at least 5 months of the year. I have a client whose 22 year old son graduated from college mid-May, 2012 and took no additional classes throughout the year. I assume the son is not the taxpayers qualifying child in this case?

Other posts I've read base "full time" on the number of credit hours taken, indicating anyone taking at least 12 credits in a year is considered full time.

Just wanted to see what your thoughts are?

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's my understanding that in order to satisfy the "Age" test, a qualifying child must be under 19 at the end of the tax year or under the age of 24 and attend school, full time, for at least 5 months of the year. I have a client whose 22 year old son graduated from college mid-May, 2012 and took no additional classes throughout the year. I assume the son is not the taxpayers qualifying child in this case?

Other posts I've read base "full time" on the number of credit hours taken, indicating anyone taking at least 12 credits in a year is considered full time.

Just wanted to see what your thoughts are?

Thanks!

Twelve hours is full time for both my kids, but I believe it depends on the school and/or the course of study. This is from Pub 970:

Enrolled at least half-time. A student was enrolled at least half-time if the student was taking at least half the normal full-time work load for his or her course of study.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch02.html

I think if 12 hours was the magic number, the Pub would say 12 hours.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...