Maybe. First, the 1098-T is only any informational document. The numbers on it are not required to be entered onto your tax return. However receipt of a 1098-T frequently means you are either eligible for a tuition credit or deduction or possibly your student has taxable scholarship income.
You say he has a small amount of taxable scholarship. If that is his only income, or he has less than $12,200* of total income; he does not need to file a tax return and the simplest thing is to just not enter the 1098-T, on either return.
But, there is a tax “loophole” available. The student reports all his scholarship, up to the amount needed to claim the American opportunity credit, as income on his return. That way, the parents (or himself, if he is not a dependent) can claim the tuition credit on their return. They can do this because that much tuition was no longer paid by "tax free" scholarship. You cannot do this if the school’s billing statement specifically shows the scholarships being applied to tuition or if the conditions of the grant are that it be used to pay for qualified expenses.
Using an example: Student has $10,000 in box 5 of the 1098-T and $8000 in box 1. At first glance he has $2000 of taxable income and nobody can claim the American opportunity credit. But if he reports $6000 as income on his return, the parents can claim $4000 of qualified expenses on their return. In this case, you do want the student to file a tax return, to document that he reported the scholarship as income.
You can both use the 1098-T to enter the expenses. If you claim the tuition credit, you do need to report that you got one (the TurboTax interview will handle this) Your son should use the 1098-T because it makes entering scholarship income go smoother.
*If your student has investment income of more than $350, and total income of more than $1100, the reporting requirement is different
