@Bsch4477 : you are correct in both issues. The student needs to demonstrate that he provided more than half of his support in 2020, then his parents cannot claim him as a dependent on their tax returns, and then the student will be able to claim Recovery Rebate Credit on his own. On AOTC credit, you are correct again in that the IRS prevents child from claiming refundable part of the credit unless the child earned through work more than more of his support, a difficult hurdle.
@Photium : You indicated that you earned a little over one thousand dollars in 2020. Where did the rest of the money come from? Let's say you spent $40,000 in 2020 ($10,000 tuition after scholarship, $20,000 for room and board while in school, $5,000 for the summer food and lodging, $5,000 for other personal items like cell phone, travel, etc). Out of $40,000 total expenditure, $20,000 must come from your own source such as your own savings account, money earned from work, money borrowed under your own name. You cannot count scholarship and money from the state as your own source. If you cannot prove that you provided half of your own support, then most likely you are a qualifying child of your parents, and then they can claim you as their dependent.
