A 529 was used for my daughter's (my dependent) college costs. However, her grandparents were the ones who made (& contributed to) the 529 plan for her, I did not. Do I need to answer yes to the question "Did you use money from a qualified education program?" Or does this only apply to the owner of the 529?
For 529 plans, there is an “owner”, usually the parent, but the grandparent in this case, and a “beneficiary” (the student). The "recipient" of the distribution can be either the owner or the beneficiary depending on who the money was sent to. When the money goes directly from the Qualified Tuition Plan (QTP) to the school, the student is the "recipient". The distribution will be reported on IRS form 1099-Q.
The 1099-Q gets reported on the recipient's return.** The recipient's name & SS# will be on the 1099-Q.
**Alternatively; the recipient can just not report the 1099-Q, at all, if the student-beneficiary has sufficient educational expenses, including room & board (even if he lives at home) to cover the distribution. You would still have to do the math to see if there were enough expenses left over for you to claim the tuition credit. The family cannot double dip! When the box 1 amount on form 1099-Q is fully covered by expenses, TurboTax will enter nothing about the 1099-Q on the actual tax forms.
On form 1099-Q, instructions to the recipient reads: "Nontaxable distributions from CESAs and QTPs are not required to be reported on your income tax return. You must determine the taxability of any distribution."