Determining who can claim the student as a dependent, and who can claim the education expenses are two totally separate determinations that are independent of each other.
She lived with both of us equally
Not possible, since there are 365 nights in a tax year. She lived with one of you "at least" one more night than she did with the other. But in the case of a tie, the IRS rules state that the one with the higher AGI gets to claim her. Based on the information you've provided, the father has the higher AGI and therefore that makes him the custodial parent as far as the IRS is concerned and that gives him the legal right to claim her. That being the case, he can provide you with a signed IRS Form 8332 relinquishing his right to claim her, to you. Then you can claim her with no issues or potential repercussions.
I financially supported her for the most of the year.
That actually does not matter for a college student under the age of 24 that attended college as a full time student for any one semester that started in the tax year. In fact, there is no requirement for the parent(s) to provide the student any support. Not one single penny. The support requirement is on the student, and only the student. That requirement states:
"If the student did not provide more than 50% of their own support during the tax year, then the parent(s) qualify to claim the student as a dependent on the parent(s) tax return. Scholarships, grants, 529 distributions, gifts from Aunt Mary, etc *do* *not* *count* for the student providing their own support. "
Now take special note of the above. The key word is "QUALIFY". So if the parent(s) just *qualify* to claim the student as a dependent and if the student is required to file a tax return, then the student *must* select the option for "I can be claimed on someone elses tax return". It does not matter if the parent(s) actually claim the student or not.
While not unheard of, it is rare for an undergraduate student to provide more than half of their own support. If they claim that they do, then they can fully expect to be audited on it 24-36 months after they file a tax return making such a claim.
The TurboTax program includes the IRS Form 8332 which can not be e-filed. It has to be filled out, printed and signed by the custodial parent, and given to the non-custodial parent so they can claim them as a dependent on their tax return.
It can be found under the Other Tax Situations tab in the Miscellaneous Tax Forms section. So if the father is using TurboTax, that's where he can find the form.
