Can we deduct paying for our son's college tuition? Trying to figure out how to include our payments for our son's tuition even though he lives on his own.

[AmyC]

If you paid fees during 2019 and are claiming the student as a dependent, take the expense. If you are NOT claiming the student, you can NOT claim the fees. Divorced parents can use payments by the other parent.

Here is a wealth of information by the IRS at this education-credits-questions-and-answers link.

Here is the IRS Support worksheet  for claiming a dependent.

Short, anonymous, online IRS quiz for Whom May I Claim as a Dependent?

[Hal_Al]

It depends on what "lives on his own" means.

As the other answer says, you can only claim a tuition credit or deduction if the student is your dependent.

So, the real question, here, is does your son qualify as your dependent.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are considered third party support and not as support provided by the student.
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school, even living off campus) for more than half the year

See full rules at 

https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Ret...