Before filling out their income tax returns, students should make sure they talk with their parents first.

Brad Cripe, assistant professor of accountancy, said the IRS could withhold your tax return or audit you if you don’t claim yourself as dependent and your parents do, or if you claim yourself as independent and your parents claim you as dependent.

“At the very least, one of the two returns is going to be rejected,” Cripe said. “If your return is in error, it could slow things down and they could audit you. You don’t want that delay.”

Jeff Fearn, a self-employed certified public accountant (CPA) based in Chicago, said if a student fills out his or her claiming status wrong on the income tax return, he or she could have to wait several additional months for a refund.

“It’s not a death note, but if you file and claim yourself wrong, it causes a lot of hassles,” Fearn said.

Cripe said filling out the claiming status wrong or different from your parents could cause problems because your tax return and your parents’ tax return could be audited.

“If you’re trying to get a speedy refund or really need your tax return to go through, you need to be sure to talk to your parents about whether or not the law allows them to claim you,” Cripe said.

After an audit, it can take weeks or even months to prove via mail or visiting an IRS office that you should be claimed as dependent or independent, Cripe said.

Besides talking with parents, Cripe said students should also look at the Tests To Be a Qualifying Child and Tests To Be a Qualifying Relative on the IRS website at www.irs.gov to find out if they can be claimed as dependent.

Students who are claimed as dependent don’t qualify for as many tax breaks, but their parents are in a higher income tax bracket and will get better benefits then if their children claimed themselves as independent, Cripe said.

Senior journalism major Rhonda Lee said her mother claims her and her siblings that are in school in order to get more money back.

At the same time, Cripe said it really doesn’t matter who would benefit more, because students and their parents have to follow the law.

“It’s not supposed to be an economic decision,” Cripe said. “It’s supposed to be a decision based on whether the law says you are supposed to be dependent or not.”