I just recently moved to Florida and intend on staying here. I am trying to receive instate tuition at public university in Florida after living and paying out-of-state tuition here for a year. The issue is my parents are residents of Utah and I am only 20 years old and I will be considered dependent on them unless I prove with my W2 that my income is more than 20k a year (and I’m assuming I have to file as an independent and have them take my name off their taxes) Although I am primarily responsible for my expenses, like tuition, rent, car, I do not make more than 20k a year.
As i am mostly financially responsible for myself I need to get instate tuition by next year.
Is there is a way to “prove” to my university with my W2 that I made more than 20k in income without having to owe the IRS a ton of money on taxes from income I didn’t actually make when I file taxes for 2019? I am not familiar with filing taxes or what kind of exemptions can be made for full-time students or if there is anyway around the system. Would filling taxes in FL versus UT (where I lived for half of 2019) beneficial in any way, I’ve read that there is no income tax in FL?
I am as loss for what to do. Anyone who knows how to work their way around taxes, advise would be highly appreciated!!
Answers & Comments
If you only moved to FL to go to college, then you are not, by definition, a resident for purposes of in-state tuition, regardless of who pays your expenses. You have to prove you moved there for some other reason, over a year ago, and only then decided to go to college as a "resident".
No, theres no way. Florida has no state income tax, but they have Federal. You won't file state taxes in Utah anyway since you don't live there. You can't falsify a W2 since they pull 4506 T from the IRS & would find out you are committing fraud.
Pay statements from your employer, a rental contract, a library card, a drivers license, voter registration, documentation from a church about when you joined.
Did you move to Florida to attend school? If you did, you will not qualify for in-state tuition until you have received your bachelors degree. Most states have this requirement:
In the Florida in-state tuition guidelines: (2) ... incidental to enrolling in a university located in Florida;
- this means you didn't move to Florida to attend school.
https://www.flbog.edu/forstudents/ati/resrequireme...
Have you actually read the FL residency rules? These rules rules are designed specifically to prevent out of state students from suddenly claiming instate tuition. The default assumption is that you are temporarily in FL seeking an education. The fact that you plan to stay in FL after you graduate is irrelevant unless you moved to FL one year BEFORE you entered college (going to high school in FL wouldn't count unless your parents had moved too). Even then you have to have worked full time (30 hours a week all year) and established ties to the state. From the state's web page:
"A student who comes to Florida to enroll full-time in a state university as an out-of-state resident and continuously enrolls in a state university will not normally meet the Florida residency requirements for in-state tuition regardless of the length of time enrolled."
The IRS also assumes you are temporarily there. That means your support includes not only your expenses at school, but your share of living in your parents house too. In order for you to not be claimed as a dependent of your parents, you must show that you paid for more than half of your total support, whether it's from loans that you alone are responsible for paying back or wages shown on a W-2. If you do pay more than half, in order to claim the American Opportunity Credit's refundable portion, you must show that your wages alone were more than half.
I am aware of dependents that made, say $30,000 from a summer internship, who were STILL dependents.
Under no circumstances do you lie to the IRS and the state about your income. This would be fraud.
You "just recently" moved there. That's your problem. In-state requires living there permanently for at least a year in some states. It could be longer in FL. Pay up. I don't see how you can do it otherwise.
Shouldn't this be in Higher Education
There is federal income tax in all 50 states. What you misread actually said only that there is no state income tax in Florida.
Also, if you make $20k a year and don't live with your parents, then they have to take your name off their taxes anyway, because it's against the law for to claim someone who makes that much without living with the person. So you'd have to file taxes as independent even if it wasn't an issue for college tuition.
How far are you from 20K income? Could you pick up a part time job to make up the difference.