What makes you still a dependent is that you don't provide more than half your own support. Scholarships (Pell Grants and other institutional scholarship) are considered third party support and not support provided by you (even any taxable portion).
But there is one other issue that is not clear. What does "moved out 2 years ago" really mean? If you are only away at college, even if living off campus, that is considered a temporary absence, from you mother's home. For the qualifying child rules**, you are still considered as living with her. If you have actually "moved out", then you can claim yourself, because then you are no longer a Qualifying child and neither of your parents can't claim you as a standard dependent (qualifying relative) because neither provided more than half your support. Note that the support rule is different for qualifying child (you must not provide half your support) and qualifying relative (the taxpayer [parent] must have provide more than half your support).
But claiming yourself (filing independent) will do you no good. With the tax law change, effective 2018, most students will get the same refund whether they claim themselves or not. The personal exemption has been eliminated and the standard deduction increased. Dependents get the full $12,000 standard deduction if their income is earned income and/or taxable scholarship.
Furthermore, a student, under age 24, is only eligible for the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Credit (up to $1000) if more than half his support comes from earned income (you clearly do not). You cannot be supporting yourself mainly on parental support, student loans & grants.
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**QUALIFYING CHILD RULES.
A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:
- He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
- He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are considered third party support and not as support provided by the student.
- He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year
So, it doesn't matter how much he earned. What matters is how much he spent on support. Money he put into savings does not count as support he spent on him self.
The support value of the home, provided by the parent, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.
Furthermore, there is a rule that says IF somebody else CAN claim him as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim himself. If he has sufficient income (usually more than $12.000), he can & should still file taxes. In TurboTax, he indicates that somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information section. TT will check that box on form 1040.
