Qualifying Child: Support Test & Taxable Scholarship

[hoga]

My daughter had scholarship funding which exceeded her qualified tuition/fee expenses in 2020.  The excess paid most of her apartment rent while at school.  

I'm working on the Qualifying Child "support test" to see if she has provided 50% of her support.  I understand that the scholarship funds are not counted as income for her in this analysis.  However, should the apartment rent paid by the excess scholarship funds be included when calculating total support provided for her? 

[hoga]

... also should have asked. 

Should the qualified tuition costs paid with scholarship funds be included in the total support provided calculation? 

[AmyC]

The scholarship is not counted. See page 14 of Publication 970 (2020), Tax Benefits for Education | IRS states: Scholarships. A scholarship received by a child who is a student isn't taken into account in determining whether the child provided more than half of his or her own support 

[hoga]

So to be clear ..

Not only is the scholarship not counted on the income side of things, but also expenses.  Anything paid with scholarship funds is excluded from consideration when computing "total support provided" for the dependent in question?  

For example, three parties contributed to her total support:  my daughter herself, me, and a third party (via the scholarship).  So we exclude all contributions from scholarship funds and only compare those bills/contributions paid by either my daughter or me? 

My common sense tells me if someone funded an apartment for her that would be included in total support provided.  I am happy to accept that logic, just want to be sure I am compliant. 

v/r