Tax Question (Income eliminating dependent status)
 

Hi, I have a tax question that I couldnt find addressed in the archives and which could be really problematic. I'm worried that the relatively small amount of money I made playing poker last year (~2k) combined with my other income (~3k) will prevent me from being claimed as a dependent by my parents. In the example, my gross income is about 5k

There are five tests for dependency: relationship, age, residency, support, and some test about qualifying child of multiple people (doesn't apply to me).

So the first few tests are easy:
1. Age: I'm under 24 and a full-time student
2. Relationship: I'm a child
3. Support: My parents spend about 12k a year on my education which is more than half of my living expenses.

However the final test, "residency," has me confused. The IRS site says: "To meet this test, your child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. There are exceptions for temporary absences, children who were born or died during the year, kidnapped children, and children of divorced or separated parents." The site goes on to say that there are exemptions for temporary absences that include education. However, I live at my school full time...so would that count as a temporary absence for education? I'm registered to vote in my college town and have a driver's license there.

So assuming I fail the residency test, I cannot be claimed as a child dependent.

So now we need to see if I'm a "qualifying relative."
Unfortunately, the qualifying relative designation has a gross income test which says that my gross income must be under $3,200. Like I said, my gross income is about 5k, meaning I can't be claimed as a qualifying relative.

The way it looks, I can't be claimed as a child dependent or a qualifying relative...it really looks like I'm sunk. Does this reasoning look right?