Can my son deduct his education expenses on his taxes if I claim him as a dependent?

[Taxman2018]

My son is a college student and worked a couple of jobs during 2017.  Two of the W2's took out state and federal taxes.  To get this money back, he is going to file his taxes separately and indicate that he can be claimed on my taxes.  When he is working his taxes it asks him in Turbo Tax for his college expenses.  Can he enter this on his return even if I claim his as a dependent on my taxes?  I can enter his taxes on mine, but they will not result in a deduction based on my income. 

[MinhT · Accepted solution]

If you are claiming your son as a dependent, only you claim his education expenses, even if you cannot get any credit based on your income.

[Carl]

The only way your son can claim his education expenses is if you do not claim him as a dependent. However, since you qualify to claim him, your son still has to select the option for "I can be claimed on someone else's return". So he still loses his $4,050 self-exemption even if you don't claim him. The key word in the IRS requirements is *qualify* to claim him. There is not requirement for you to actually claim him. But if you just qualify to claim him, your son cannot take the $4,050 self-exemption on his own return.

Also, there are a number of credits your son will automatically not qualify for, because he qualifies to be claimed on another's tax return. Overall for the family unit as a whole, it's almost always better for the parents to claim the student as a dependent, and for the parent's to claim all the education tax credits they qualify for.