u/Glad-Parsnip-9847

Hello, I need help in assessing whether I am a dependent or independent. My mother is insisting I am still a dependent and says by filing my taxes as an independent (which I have already done) is screwing them over and making them owe a lot more money. She has always been in control of my finances and important information, not wanting me to learn about them so she can have control, so I am woefully ignorant about a lot of things and I can't tell if her claims have any legitimacy.

After quickly reviewing the IRS requirements for dependency;

• I do not live with my parents for any time out of the year, besides visits, and I have changed my mailing address to my apartment (which upset them greatly as well)
• I do not believe they are financially supporting me for half of my expenses, but I can't prove that without getting information from them

I pay for my rent ($600.00 / month), utilities ($200.00ish / month), car insurance ($100.00 / month), etc. and this isn't including what I spend monthly on food, clothes, gas, hygiene products, and everything else. They pay for my phone plan, streaming subscriptions that I am logged into, health insurance, and they pay the interest on my private and federal student loans (,but I am still responsible for paying them off completely). I do not know if they pay for anything else and how much so I am having a difficult time combatting them on this point.

I don't know if me being a full-time student at school or being a dependent on the FAFSA trumps any of this information, but I have been told that it shouldn't matter and I still don't qualify. My parents have met with multiple accountants and professionals who help with taxes and are being told that I am still considered a dependent. I do not know if these people are correct or if my parents are not telling them the truth.

I want to enforce my boundaries for the first time against them and not refile, but I am terrified they will force me into it and/or excommunicate me. This is not the first time she has been financially (or emotionally) abusive and it has caused major problems in our relationship, but now we are starting to reach my breaking point. Next month I am graduating college and over the summer I am moving across the country with my fiancé, I need to be financially independent and now this isn't just hurting me, but my partner as well. I don't want this to end in cutting her (and because of that, the rest of my family) out of my life because I love them, but I don't know what to do at this point because I can't take it anymore. Any advice you have would be greatly beneficial!

Hello, I need help in assessing whether I am a dependent or independent. My mother is insisting I am still a dependent and says by filing my taxes as an independent (which I have already done) is screwing them over and making them owe a lot more money. She has always been in control of my finances and important information, not wanting me to learn about them so she can have control, so I am woefully ignorant about a lot of things and I can't tell if her claims have any legitimacy.

After quickly reviewing the IRS requirements for dependency;

• I do not live with my parents for any time out of the year, besides visits, and I have changed my mailing address to my apartment (which upset them greatly as well)
• I do not believe they are financially supporting me for half of my expenses, but I can't prove that without getting information from them

I pay for my rent ($600.00 / month), utilities ($200.00ish / month), car insurance ($100.00 / month), etc. and this isn't including what I spend monthly on food, clothes, gas, hygiene products, and everything else. They pay for my phone plan, streaming subscriptions that I am logged into, health insurance, and they pay the interest on my private and federal student loans (,but I am still responsible for paying them off completely). I do not know if they pay for anything else and how much so I am having a difficult time combatting them on this point.

I don't know if me being a full-time student at school or being a dependent on the FAFSA trumps any of this information, but I have been told that it shouldn't matter and I still don't qualify. My parents have met with multiple accountants and professionals who help with taxes and are being told that I am still considered a dependent. I do not know if these people are correct or if my parents are not telling them the truth.

I want to enforce my boundaries for the first time against them and not refile, but I am terrified they will force me into it and/or excommunicate me. This is not the first time she has been financially (or emotionally) abusive and it has caused major problems in our relationship, but now we are starting to reach my breaking point. Next month I am graduating college and over the summer I am moving across the country with my fiancé, I need to be financially independent and now this isn't just hurting me, but my partner as well. I don't want this to end in cutting her (and because of that, the rest of my family) out of my life because I love them, but I don't know what to do at this point because I can't take it anymore. Any advice you have would be greatly beneficial!