Your interpretation is correct. You are the parent that can claim her as a dependent for 2024. This is because she live with you for most of the year. The time away at school is only a temporary absence from your home. The fact that the father paid tuition and may have even provided the most support is not relevant.
This is because she is your Qualifying Child. There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test.
The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support. So, his financial support of her at college does NOT give him the right to claim her. It sounds like he's only heard of the Qualifying Relative rules. He cannot claim her under the qualifying relative rules because she is the QC of another taxpayer (YOU).
A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:
- He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
- He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
- He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year
Because she is your dependent, you get to claim the tuition tax credit, even though the other parent paid the tuition.
