If your parents (and anyone else) cannot claim you as a dependent, you can claim your education expenses for a education tax credit or the tuition and fees deduction. However, if your parents can claim you as a dependent, they are going to be the only one that can claim your education expenses for an education credit or the tuition and fees deduction.
To claim your education expenses as follows:
Go to the Federal Taxes category.
Next go to the Deductions and Credits subcategory.
Choose the option “I’ll choose what I work on”
Find the section labeled Education
Click start or update on the Expenses and Scholarships (Form 1098-T)
Enter your information through this information
See the following from IRS Publication 970:
Who Can Claim the Credit?
Generally, you can claim the lifetime learning credit if all three of the following requirements are met.
You pay qualified education expenses of higher education.
You pay the education expenses for an eligible student.
The eligible student is either yourself, your spouse, or a dependent for whom you claim an exemption on your tax return.
Note.
Qualified education expenses paid by a dependent for whom you claim an exemption, or by a third party for that dependent, are considered paid by you.
“Qualified education expenses” are defined later under
Qualified Education Expenses
. “Eligible students” are defined later under
Who Is an Eligible Student
. A dependent for whom you claim an exemption is defined later under
Who Can Claim a Dependent's Expenses
.
