I too have a 2020 undergrad college graduate who as in school thru May 2020.. We (parents) paid tuition minus loans and scholarships.
When it comes to calculating support for the full year, for sure the college tuition adds up to more than 1/2 of what he would have paid to support himself even if he moved away right away (he did for a 5 months but then came back for 2 months ). I was thinking him paying us rent for that time back home would keep us on the right side of this but if I have to include all the expenses while he was still in school, he will have to be our dependent. This means, of course, he won't be eligible for the 2 Covid-19 stimulus payments he would have gotten in 2020 (didn't since he was clearly dependent in 2019) and he won't be eligible for the proposed new payment in 2021.
Am I thinking about this correctly or is there some way he can legitimately be considered independent for 2020 without billing him for a good portion of the tuition ? I was assuming I am done with the tax credits since we claimed the AOTC for 4 yrs already and can't claim tuition paid as a deduction any more thanks to tax law changes. So the only benefit to me to claim him as a deduction is $500 I believe. Him being independent would be far better financially due to the covid relief (his job was pushed off in time and he missed out on much salary for 2020 as it is)
Appreciate thoughts .
