My son filing his taxes, I will not add him as dependent, can I (Co-Signer) still claim interest I paid on his education loan in my taxes?

[Hal_Al]

Yes, since you paid it and had  a legal obligation to pay it. 

There's one additional requirement: he must have been your dependent at the time the loan money was used to pay educational expenses.

[rekha_akhil]

Thank You!

[ReneeM7122]

It depends.  If the child was your dependent, then yes you can claim the interest deduction.  If your child wasn't your dependent  when you took out the loan, then you won't be able to claim the interest.  This is true even if you are the cosigner and you paid the interest, and you are  legally responsible for the loan.   

Here is a link to IRS Topic 456 which lists the eligibility requirements.

[Opus 17]

See page 32 here. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf

A loan is qualified if the student was your dependent when the loan was taken out (and assuming it meets the other tests). 

[Opus 17]

@rekha_akhil 

Additional information.

While you are entitled to claim the student loan interest deduction if you are obligated on the loan (a signer or cosigner) and if the loan paid for qualified expenses and if the student was your dependent when the loan was taken out, it is sometimes the case that a parent will be unable to deduct the interest because their income is too high. It is allowable for your child to deduct the student loan interest if they are also a signer or cosigner, even though you paid the interest. The interest is treated as if it was a gift from you to your child and and then your child paid the interest and can take the deduction.  This treatment is not allowed for most tax deductions, which are only allowed to the person who actually paid the expense. However, in the case of student loans, your child could deduct the interest as long as the child is one of the signers on the loan even if your child did not pay the interest.  You can’t take a double deduction, so either you or your child but not both could deduct the interest.