im a student,i have w-2, how much return i can get if i am a dependent?

Question

my aunt claimed me as a dependent last year when my income was only 800 and this year. But this year my income is a little more than $5000 but less than $5100, and i have some federal and tax withholding which is more than $100, but i remembered paying tax more than that in everymonth pay check.
I wonder if i could get tax return for myself, is it same amount as my tax withholding. My aunt would not give me anything from claiming me as dependent even though she got back more than $2000
Could i have gotten more of my return if my aunt had not claimed me as her dependent?
I am student, please help me out

Answer 1

You still get the same amount of refund back, no matter whether she claims you or not!!

Answer 2

If you would have filed by yourself, you would have received the entire Federal withholding back (IRS keeps medicare and FICA).

As detailed as you tried to be, unfortunately this is not enough information to answer if your aunt gets a bigger benefit. If she qualifies she may be receiveing a child tax credit for you and in that case she gets a bigger benefit than you would. There is a possibility that she only gets a $3,300 exemption by claiming you, and then $1,700 is taxed at her rate, which may be less favorable to both of you. However, it seems to me that she must be getting the ladder if she's insisting on claiming you as a dependend.
Perhaps you may want to talk to your aunt about getting a few dollars back from that refund. Just as a friendly gesture.
If she is taking care of you, providing you with living necessities and giving you shelter, it would be nice for you to repay her in some way. On another hand, she should be fair and understand that these are your earned dollars and you should be rewarded as well.
It would be best if you would resolve this amicably on a personal leve.
Best of luck.

Answer 3

You can file a tax return for yourself, claiming zero exemptions. You will get all your federal and (probably) all your state withholding back.

You also had Social Security and Medicare tax deducted from your pay. You will not get a refund of those taxes.

You would not have received more money back if your aunt had not claimed you as a dependent.

Answer 4

If you are her dependent, that means she is mostly supporting you. Since you only made $5k, I'd assume that you didn't support yourself. Don't begrudge her her refund. Your 1 exemption probably didn't account for much of that $2k, unless you were under 17 at year-end. You should have a W-2 that says how much income tax was withheld from your pay during the year. If you made less than the filing mnimum, you should get a full refund, regardless of your dependent status. (That is how they determine the minimum to file...If you are under it, you don't owe anything.) There are free tax help workshops on many college campuses & at libraries. Try to find one or get a biz major to help you. The 1040ez should be fairly easy for you to file. Get fill-in forms & instructions here: