Opus, " I did NOT work." and "2017 was the first year I received a refund" pretty much indicates the "refund" was from the college for excess scholarship money not used by the school for qualified education expenses, or a refund from a 2016 tax return. So there's no way that borrowed money (even if there are student loans) was used to pay for qualified education expenses *at this point in the conversation*. I have a bit to go here to keep things straight so that nobody (especially
@bridan121895 ) gets confused.
Thanks
@bridan121895 . Just be aware that weather your parents actually claimed you as their dependent in 2017 doesn't matter. It only matters if they *qualified* to claim you, and they did qualify. So that tells me that you did not take the self-exemption on your 2017 tax return. Furthermore, the only way you could have received a refund "in 2017" would be if you worked in 2016, filed a tax return for that in 2017 and got a refund. So please clarify this. Was this a return of excess scholarship money paid to you in 2017 that was not used by the college to pay qualified education expenses? Or are you referring to a federal refund from your 2016 tax return, that you would "in fact" have received in 2017?
