Thanks Hal_AI,
He is a FT student, age 22, and lived with us for the whole year in 2024. We provided over half his support so he would be eligible if we wanted to list him as a dependent.
The problem, and I have done tried this both ways, is that by him marking the box on the personal info sheet of his return that someone can and will claim him as a dependent on their tax return, his return significantly swings from a nice refund to having to pay a little tax. It's way more than the credit I will see on my return for having him listed as a dependent - and none of this answers why ANY of the box 2 earnings on the 1099-Q is taxable to him (or to us) as it was 100% used for tuition / fees at a qualified institution. The boxes 1 of both forms are exactly the same number.
