Many parents claim their children on their tax returns, even once their kids start working, but when should parents stop and make the transition for their children to begin claiming themselves?

Architecture major Anna Zavala started filing her own income taxes as a senior in high school when she began working full-time and earning enough to receive a decent tax return.

“My advice for when you start filing your own taxes is to make sure you have all your tax forms in an organized place you won’t forget about before you begin filing,” she said. “I personally have a small file cabinet I put all my forms in throughout the year, and it always saves me a headache come tax time.”

It is important to keep all W2s, 1098-Ts, health insurance forms, and property or registration fees. They may come around in January or throughout the year. W2s are from jobs and 1098-Ts are education forms.

“The transition from my parents claiming me to doing my own taxes was sort of a two to three year process and didn’t happen all at once. This had to do with where I lived, who paid for my
college, and my marital status,” she explained.

The first year she filed taxes, Zavala misjudged the density of taxes. Because a lot of things changed during the next two years, it made filing for taxes more difficult than before.

“It became more complicated because I got married, bought a house, bought a car, and had to file jointly with my husband on top of the previous forms I had from a job and continuing
my education,” she said.

There are no specific forms to claim oneself as independent from their parents, yet one has to be completely independent from their parent’s household and income in order to do that. This also means that their parents cannot claim them as a dependent anymore.

“Tax returns are fun! Filing taxes is not! If you feel confused about taxes, join the club. With every new life change comes new tax forms,” Zavala said. “It’s better to be safe than sorry, so always consult a tax professional when friends and family can’t reliably answer your tax questions.”

Drury provides several different opportunities to get help with taxes. Real World Leadership is hosting local CPA Mia Young as their guest speaker for this month’s luncheon on Wednesday, Feb. 27 from 12-1 p.m. in the Hoblit Suite. RSVPs were due February 22. The Breech School of Business also advertised several events to help students with their taxes throughout the month of February.

Article by Kelli Volonte.