Q. Would the 529 distribution used to pay for education expenses count as the student support if the account was funded by parents and the student is the beneficiary?
A. No. That is the most common situation; the 529 plan is funded by parents with the their child as student- beneficiary. Since the parent is the owner, of the fund, the support is deemed to have come from the parent, not the student himself.
Actually, the answer is only probably no . The treatment of expenses paid with distributions from Sec. 529 plans and Coverdell ESAs in the support test is uncertain because of the dual nature of these college savings vehicles and a lack of IRS guidance. The consensus among tax experts is that it is parental support, because the parent is the owner of the plan.
https://www.savingforcollege.com/articles/the-impact-of-529-plans-on-claiming-a-dependent
https://proconnect.intuit.com/community/tax-talk/discussion/529-plan-distribution-and-support-test/0...
