[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/taxes\/personal-taxes\/aoc-fox-news-stimulus-tax-advice\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/taxes\/personal-taxes\/aoc-fox-news-stimulus-tax-advice\/","headline":"AOC and Fox News Both Just Gave Terrible Tax Advice","name":"AOC and Fox News Both Just Gave Terrible Tax Advice","description":"So this week, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez publicly gave some terrible and erroneous tax advice...","datePublished":"2020-04-04","dateModified":"2021-09-29","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/author\/logan-allec\/#Person","name":"Logan Allec, CPA","url":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/author\/logan-allec\/","identifier":4,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e74dd0453a5871d1dcfde6d40d9494765ca8bfdb01927cefee4564d4bee9075?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6e74dd0453a5871d1dcfde6d40d9494765ca8bfdb01927cefee4564d4bee9075?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Money Done Right","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Money-Done-Right-Personal-Finance-and-Investing-Blog.png","url":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Money-Done-Right-Personal-Finance-and-Investing-Blog.png","width":488,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/aoc-fox-news-stimulus-tax-advice.jpg","url":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/aoc-fox-news-stimulus-tax-advice.jpg","height":460,"width":1900},"url":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/taxes\/personal-taxes\/aoc-fox-news-stimulus-tax-advice\/","video":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LjtVIo_u-2Q#VideoObject","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LjtVIo_u-2Q","name":"Bad Stimulus Tax Advice from AOC and Fox News","description":"Last week, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez publicly gave some terrible and erroneous tax advice pertaining to the stimulus payments, and -- both hilariously and ironically -- the only network that published it was Fox News, and they did so uncritically.\n\nMy point here isn't to crap all over AOC or Fox News but to point out that no matter your political leanings, whether you're an AOC fan or a Fox News fan, you need to think for yourself and look at the actual facts (in this case, the actual text of the CARES Act alongside the Internal Revenue Code).\n\nSo please share this with anyone who has a one-track political mind and who looks at some figure or network -- be it AOC or Trump or CNN or Fox News or whoever -- and takes whatever they say as absolute truth.\n\nI'm going to tell you exactly what AOC said and Fox News published later in this article, but just to give some context to Representative Ocasio-Cortez's tax advice:\n\nThere's no question that some people are getting shafted by the stimulus.\u00a0 Consider dependent adults such as disabled adult children still dependent on their parents or elderly parents whose children claim them as dependents.\u00a0 In both of these scenarios, the dependent doesn't get anything from the stimulus, and the person claiming them doesn't get anything for them either.\u00a0 And these are frankly people who probably need a little extra more than the average American right now.\n\nAnother example of people who got \"left out\" is college students who are claimed as dependents by their parents.\u00a0 Parents can claim their children as dependents on their tax return under the age of 24 if they are a full-time college student at least five months of the year and the parents provide more than half of their support.\u00a0 For stimulus purposes, however, the parents can't get the $500 for them because they're aged 17 or older, and the college student can't get the $1,200 because they're eligible to be claimed as a dependent.\u00a0 They're both screwed.\nWhat AOC Said (and Fox News Published)\n\nSo Representative Ocasio-Cortez, in a virtual town hall this week, gave a little piece of tax advice for these students and their parents.\u00a0 Here's what she said:\n\nIf you are...17 or older, and you are filed as a dependent on someone else's tax return, there is no cash assistance, or additional cash assistance, that's offered to that person, so you do not receive a $1,200 check, and you...are not counted as that additional $500 toward whoever's counting you as a dependent.\u00a0 So a lot of people are very concerned about this. My personal piece of advice would be that if you have not yet...filed in 2019, talk to the person who is claiming you as a dependent and figure out if...your personal situation would be better if you all filed separately, or if it ends up...still being the best thing to do to file together. So make sure you have that conversation.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe that it\u2019s too late to file your 2019 return in the way that you see best fit for yourself and your situation.\n\nShe's saying that college students should figure out with their family to look into what tax benefits their parents get if they claim them as a dependent -- such as potentially the American Opportunity Tax Credit for qualified education expenses that parents paid on the student's behalf -- and to weigh these parental tax benefits against the $1,200 stimulus payment the student would (supposedly) get if their parents didn't claim them as a dependent.\n\nSo why are AOC and the article that Fox News published wrong?\n\nBecause it doesn't matter if mom and dad claim you their eligible college student or not -- even if the student is merely eligible to be claimed as a dependent by them, they are not eligible for a $1,200 stimulus payment.\n\nDon't believe me?\u00a0 I'll show you in the actual law.\n\nIt says:\n\nFor purposes of this section, the term \u2018eligible individual\u2019 means any individual other than...any individual with respect to whom a deduction under section 151 is allowable to another taxpayer for a taxable year beginning in the calendar year in which the individual\u2019s taxable year begins.\n\nWhat does this mean?\u00a0 What is this Section 151?\u00a0 It's referring to Section 151 of the Internal Revenue Code i.e. the tax code.\u00a0 It's referring to dependents\n\nNow look closely at the language of the CARES Act (above).\u00a0 Does it say that you're not eligible if you're an individual with respect to whom a deduction under section 151 was taken by another taxpayer?\n\nNo.\u00a0 It says you're not eligible if you're an individual with respect to whom a deduction under section 151 is allowable to another taxpayer.\n\n\"Allowable\" means whether they actually claim you as a dependent or not.\n\nSo college students, if your parents can claim you as a dependent, and you somehow convince them not to, you are still not eligible for the $1,200 stimulus payment, despite what AOC and Fox News told you!","thumbnailUrl":["https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/LjtVIo_u-2Q\/default.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/LjtVIo_u-2Q\/mqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/LjtVIo_u-2Q\/hqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/LjtVIo_u-2Q\/sddefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/LjtVIo_u-2Q\/maxresdefault.jpg"],"uploadDate":"2020-04-05T15:00:08+00:00","duration":"PT7M23S","embedUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LjtVIo_u-2Q","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCQ9WUXlSuLlbi5BLkgtEUEA#Organization","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCQ9WUXlSuLlbi5BLkgtEUEA","name":"Logan Allec","description":"Logan Allec is a CPA and the founder of Choice Tax Relief, which specializes in helping people with their IRS and state tax debt.","logo":{"url":"https:\/\/yt3.ggpht.com\/43_VKqrbO06RGMcxfdQbDXosrkVRq1yf5QgSQEiR4ILUGWV9fJtTh0o2ftYMYqVo6PwnEOPRdg=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj","width":800,"height":800,"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LjtVIo_u-2Q#VideoObject_publisher_logo_ImageObject"}},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LjtVIo_u-2Q#VideoObject_potentialAction","target":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LjtVIo_u-2Q&t={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"},"interactionStatistic":[[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LjtVIo_u-2Q#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_WatchAction","interactionType":{"@type":"WatchAction"},"userInteractionCount":4291}],{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=LjtVIo_u-2Q#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_LikeAction","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":145}]},"commentCount":"1","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","@id":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/taxes\/personal-taxes\/aoc-fox-news-stimulus-tax-advice\/#Comment1","dateCreated":"2020-07-11 20:50:00","description":"It makes sense.  The word is \"made allowable.\"  Whether the parents took the student as their\r\ndependent in their tax return or not, student still remains as being made allowable as dependent\r\nand their inaction in claiming student as dependent has not changed the nuance of the law.  That\r\nmakes the student ineligible for stimulus check.","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"violet willlsey","url":""}}],"about":["Personal Taxes"],"wordCount":993,"keywords":["hide on posts list","youtube","schema"],"articleBody":"So this week, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez publicly gave some terrible and erroneous tax advice pertaining to the stimulus payments, and — both hilariously and ironically — the only network that published it was Fox News, and they did so uncritically.My point here isn’t to crap all over AOC or Fox News but to point out that no matter your political leanings, whether you’re an AOC fan or a Fox News fan — though if you’re both an AOC fan and a Fox New fan, I would question the consistency of your political views — you need to:think for yourself andlook at the actual facts (in this case, the actual text of the CARES Act alongside the Internal Revenue Code).So please share this with anyone who has a one-track political mind and who looks at some figure or network — be it AOC or Trump or CNN or Fox News or whoever — and takes whatever they say as absolute truth.Look, I was able to hone in on this mistake — and literally no one else is talking about this — because I’m a tax expert.\u00a0 But the truth is, there’s B.S. everywhere on both sides of the aisle.Table of ContentsToggleContext to AOC’s StatementWhat AOC Said (and Fox News Published)Why AOC and Fox News Are WrongContext to AOC’s StatementI’m going to tell you exactly what AOC said and Fox News published later in this article, but just to give some context to Representative Ocasio-Cortez’s tax advice:There’s no question that some people are getting shafted by the stimulus.\u00a0 Consider dependent adults such as disabled adult children still dependent on their parents or elderly parents whose children claim them as dependents.\u00a0 In both of these scenarios, the dependent doesn’t get anything from the stimulus, and the person claiming them doesn’t get anything for them either.\u00a0 And these are frankly people who probably need a little extra more than the average American right now.\u00a0 I know people caring for disabled adult children, and that’s such a burden.\u00a0 And I also know people who are caring for elderly parents, and I know that can feel like a full-time job.Another example of people who got “left out” is college students who are claimed as dependents by their parents.\u00a0 Parents can claim their children as dependents on their tax return under the age of 24 if they are a full-time college student at least five months of the year and the parents provide more than half of their support.\u00a0 For stimulus purposes, however, the parents can’t get the $500 for them because they’re aged 17 or older, and the college student can’t get the $1,200 because they’re eligible to be claimed as a dependent.\u00a0 They’re both screwed.What AOC Said (and Fox News Published)So Representative Ocasio-Cortez, in a virtual town hall this week, gave a little piece of tax advice for these students and their parents.\u00a0 Here’s what she said:If you are…17 or older, and you are filed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return, there is no cash assistance, or additional cash assistance, that’s offered to that person, so you do not receive a $1,200 check, and you…are not counted as that additional $500 toward whoever’s counting you as a dependent.\u00a0 So a lot of people are very concerned about this. My personal piece of advice would be that if you have not yet…filed in 2019, talk to the person who is claiming you as a dependent and figure out if…your personal situation would be better if you all filed separately, or if it ends up…still being the best thing to do to file together. So make sure you have that conversation.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe that it\u2019s too late to file your 2019 return in the way that you see best fit for yourself and your situation.\u00a0 Representative Alexandria Ocasio-CortezShe’s saying that college students should figure out with their family to look into what tax benefits their parents get if they claim them as a dependent — such as potentially the American Opportunity Tax Credit for qualified education expenses that parents paid on the student’s behalf — and to weigh these parental tax benefits against the $1,200 stimulus payment the student would (supposedly) get if their parents didn’t claim them as a dependent.Why AOC and Fox News Are WrongSo why are AOC and the article that Fox News published wrong?Because it doesn’t matter if mom and dad claim you their eligible college student or not — even if the student is merely eligible to be claimed as a dependent by them, they are not eligible for a $1,200 stimulus payment.Don’t believe me?\u00a0 I’ll show you in the actual law.It says:For purposes of this section, the term \u2018eligible individual\u2019 means any individual other than…any individual with respect to whom a deduction under section 151 is allowable to another taxpayer for a taxable year beginning in the calendar year in which the individual\u2019s taxable year begins.What does this mean?\u00a0 What is this Section 151?\u00a0 It’s referring to Section 151 of the Internal Revenue Code i.e. the tax code.\u00a0 It’s referring to dependentsNow look closely at the language of the CARES Act (above).\u00a0 Does it say that you’re not eligible if you’re an individual with respect to whom a deduction under section 151 was taken by another taxpayer?No.\u00a0 It says you’re not eligible if you’re an individual with respect to whom a deduction under section 151 is allowable to another taxpayer.“Allowable” means whether they actually claim you as a dependent or not.So college students, if your parents can claim you as a dependent, and you somehow convince them not to, you are still not eligible for the $1,200 stimulus payment, despite what AOC and Fox News told you!"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Taxes","item":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/taxes\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Personal Taxes","item":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/taxes\/\/personal-taxes\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"AOC and Fox News Both Just Gave Terrible Tax Advice","item":"https:\/\/moneydoneright.com\/taxes\/personal-taxes\/aoc-fox-news-stimulus-tax-advice\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]