First, let's check if your son qualifies as your dependent under the Qualifying Child rules:
1. Relationship test: met (he's your son)
2. Age test: met (assuming he's under 24)
3. Residency test: met (he appears to have lived with you more than half the year)
4. Support test: met (you provided more than half of his support for the year, including tuition and living expenses through September)
Based on the information provided, your son appears to qualify as your dependent for 2024. Because he qualifies as a dependent, he cannot "claim himself" on his own tax return - even if you don't claim him.
Since he qualifies as your dependent, you would benefit more by claiming him. You could qualify for up to $500 for Other Dependent Credit and up to $2,500 for education credit if you paid tuition for him in 2024.
This answer has been verified for accuracy by an Intuit expert employee
