Just a few things to clarify, that may relate. There's not enough information here to really know for sure. But you did mention he was a student in 2020. Understand that I"m only addressing the dependency requirements. I am not addressing the education tax credits at all. That's a completely separate consideration.
Qualifying Child Dependent
- Under the age of 19 on Dec 31 of the tax year
********************OR*********************
- Under the age of 24 on Dec 31 of the tax year, and;
- Was enrolled as a full time student for *any* *one* *semester* that started during the tax year, and;
- Was enrolled at a qualified learning institution, and;
- Was enrolled in a course of study that will lead to a degree *or* credentialed certification, and;
- Did not provide more than half of *THEIR* *OWN* support. (scholarships, grants, 529 distributions, money from mom and dad, gifts from Aunt Mary, and any other 3rd party income to the student. *do* *not* *count* for the student providing their own support.
If all 5 conditions above are met, the student qualifies as your dependent. Several things to note here, are mainly what is *not* clearly stated in the above.
- Understand that the key word here is *QUALIFY*. It does not matter if you actually claim the student as your dependent, or not. If they *qualify* as your 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 else's tax return." Again, it does not matter if you actually claim the student as a dependent, or not.
- There is no requirement for the parents to provide the student any support. Not one penny. The support requirement is on the student, and only the student.
- While not unheard of, is is not common for an undergraduate student to be able to provide more than half of their own support for the *entire* tax year, while enrolled as a full time student, even if only for one semester.
- Note that the enrollment requirement is "enrolled" for any one semester as a full time student. There is no attendance requirement, and there is no requirement for the student to actually pass a course. The only thing that I can think of that would negate the student meeting the enrollment requirement, (there may be others) would be if the student dropped a course or courses, as they can usually do in the first 5-7 days of the class start date, and the number of dropped courses was sufficient to put the student's enrollment status for the semester at less than half time. Generally, if the student is enrolled for "at least" half time, then for taxes they are considered full time. (I said *generally* now, not always.)
