You have several questions, there, but the main one seems to be:
can I receive my education tax credit instead of my parents? The answer is no. The answer is no, whether you claim yourself or not.
There's a new urban myth among college students that says they can get a
$1000 from the government just for filing a tax form. For most of them, they
simply aren't eligible. A student, under age 24, is only eligible for the
refundable portion of the American Opportunity
Credit if he supports himself by working. You cannot be supporting yourself on
parental support, 529 plans or student loans & grants. You must have
actually paid tuition, not had it paid by scholarships & grants. It is usually best if the parent claims that
credit. So, unless your $10K earned
income (and I’m only assuming it’s earned income), is more than half your total
support, you can not get that $1000. Your income is not high enough to have a
tax liability to claim the non-refundable portion of the credit.
So far the discussion has been about
do you or do you not qualify as your parent’s dependent. The main factor in
answering that question is what is your real residence? If you live with them,
you are still there dependent. If you don’t, your income ($10K) is too high to
be their dependent (there is no income test when you live with your parents).
