@videot7 your post is what is referred to as an "add on" to a thread that you did not start. So the absolute only fact I know about your specific and explicit information is that $2,869 of scholarship money received in 2019, was used to pay for qualified education expenses in that same tax year. That's it. I don't know if there's 529 funds involved, what the total tuition paid in 2019 was, or what the total amount of schoarship money awarded/received in 2019 was.
But the general rule is, if scholarships, grants and 529 distributions recevied in a tax year exceed the qualified education expenses paid in that same tax year, then it is the student, and only the student that will report it on their own tax return, and it is the student and only the student that will have the established tax liability to pay taxes on the excess. Now who actually pays it, the IRS doesn't care. But legally speaking, the tax liability is on the student. There's more too.
That excess money is taxed to the student at the "higher" parent's tax rate, since the student qualifies to be claimed as a dependent on the parent's tax return. It doesn't matter if the parent's actually claim the student or not either.
Now if there's 529 funds involved, there is a loophole I'm aware of, but don't have all the details on it to explain it myself. All I know for sure is that the loophole "requires" the student to have earned, taxable income.
I would suggest you start your own thread providing the details that are pertinent to your specific and explicit situation. Otherwise, reading through other threads that don't match your situation *exactly* will result in misleading information.
