Really appreciate the reply. I thought I had it understood, but I ran into another confusing point. I have two daughters in college. I was moving forward with claiming one as a dependent and the other not claiming her as a dependent. I chose this path because of your explanation - the one child did not have enough tax to claim the full AOC, while the other one did...so I was claiming the former as a dependent and the later I was not claiming as a dependent. But.....I received a 1099-Q distribution payable to me which I used to cover the "non-dependent" college tuition. So I have to enter that in my return, but the 1099-Q looks like income since I do not have the dependent's tuition to offset that distribution. So I think I am stuck claiming both my kids as dependents. Man, this is confusing. Does my reasoning seem sound to you? Thanks in advance
