It depends. Keep in mind that it is not an optional choice. Only one person is eligible to claim a dependent and if that is you, then even if you don't claim your student/child they must indicate on their return that someone else can claim them. This would eliminate the American opportunity tax credit (AOTC) for your child.
The rules for claiming a dependent as a qualifying child are listed below. If I had to guess, I would say that your obstacle will be whether your child paid more than half of their own support.
Qualifying child:
- They're related to you.
- They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
- They're a US citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
- They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
- They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).
- There's no age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.
- They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
- They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.
@jamminyam
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