How do I show that the money I took from my daughter's 529 plan was used for her tuition if my ex husband claims her as his dependent?

[cassidy]

My ex husband and I have 2 children. We alternate years as to who claims each one as dependent. However, I have the 529 college plans- I took out 1/2 my daughters tuition /room /board from the 529 plan but he is claiming her as dependent this year ( he paid 1/2 but not from a college fund) how do we do this?

[Hal_Al]

There are two ways:

1. Show nothing at all. If all the 529 plan was used for qualified expenses, nothing goes on your tax return  to show this.

2. The 529 plan will issue a form 1099-Q for the distribution. There is a place to enter it in TurboTax (TT). One of the choices will be "a beneficiary who is not a dependent on my return". But when you get all thru the complicated interview, nothing goes on your tax return. TT will give you a work sheet for your own records.

This works if your ex does not claim anything, for educational expenses, other than what he actually paid.

For a more detailed discussion, see

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/college-education/discussion/college-expenses-my-federal-tax-incre...

[Hal_Al]

But, for an IRS cautionary tale, see <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1492190-where-how-is-1099-q-info-reported-to-the-irs-via-turbotax-...>