child coming off the tax return?

[Possi]

My client's son turned 18 in 2020.

He graduated HS in June.

He worked and earned about $8k. 

He joined the military in October. I don't know what his income was after that. 

I want to take him off his parents' tax return and have him file on his own. He may or may not have supported himself, as he lived with his parents until going off to college. 

This could swing either way. Just thinking out loud. 

WWYD? What would you do?

[Medlin Software, Dennis]

Likely separate, especially with the EIP differences.  I would also wait until the EIP 3 is determined (or fails) because of the net income by proper timing as discussed in a different thread.  Assuming no other items which would benefit parents by keeping, if allowed, as dependent.

[JoeFreitag]

Was in a meeting in December and a CPA at another firm said their dollar figure to determine support was if the kid earned more than $11k, they likely supported themselves. Personally I would first check to see if the kid has filed already, see what his entire income was for the year and then if I could justify it I would claim as a dependent. Don't make work / arguments for yourself to send guess if the problem has already worked itself out.

Did the kid get a sign-on bonus? They could have gotten one in December making this all a worthless discussion.

[Possi]

I get parents who want to claim kids that last year when the kids really DID support themselves. I have dropped the hammer on those more than once. 

 This one really is a toss up. If this kid lived with his parents, he very likely wisely saved some money. 

These are great clients, and money-wise. Not wealthy, but good standards.

Since it's a toss up, and he joined the military so young, I'll follow Medlin's advise. It's sound. 

[Lion EA]

I realize I live in an area that literally is called the Gold Coast, but I find it exceedingly rare for a recently graduated student to pay more than half his own support in his graduation year, even if he gets a Wall Street job, and especially if joining the military. Have the parents and child fill out the support worksheet, and keep a copy in your files for both sets of returns to have documentation for how the family files.