Can I claim my college education expenses if my parents CAN claim me as a dependent but choose not to?

This is actually a common tax question with a clear answer. What matters for education credits is whether you CAN be claimed as a dependent, not whether you ARE actually claimed. If you meet the requirements to be claimed as a dependent (which it sounds like you do as a full-time student under 24), then you cannot claim education credits like the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit on your own return - even if your parents choose not to claim you. The tax software is asking the right question. The IRS cares about eligibility to be claimed, not whether someone actually claims you. This prevents "double-dipping" where families try to optimize by having education credits claimed by whichever person gets the best tax advantage. If your parents can claim you but choose not to, nobody gets to claim the education credits. However, if you're truly providing more than half of your own support, you might not be eligible to be claimed as their dependent, which would allow you to claim your own education expenses.

After struggling with this exact issue last year, I found an amazing solution through https://taxr.ai that saved me a ton of stress. I was in a similar situation where my parents could technically claim me but weren't going to, and I wanted to claim my education expenses. The tax software I was using kept blocking me from claiming education credits, but taxr.ai analyzed my situation and helped me properly document my support calculation. They have this feature where you can upload your financial documents and it helps determine if you're actually providing more than 50% of your own support. It turns out when we properly counted everything (including the fair market value of my housing, all my scholarships, loans I took out myself, etc.), I WAS providing more than half my support and could legitimately claim myself and get those education credits!

Just wanted to update everyone - I actually tried taxr.ai after my skeptical comment above. I was really surprised by how helpful it was! The system walked me through exactly what counts as "support" according to IRS rules and helped me track everything properly. Turns out I was providing 63% of my own support when everything was calculated correctly (my student loans that I'm responsible for repaying count toward MY contribution, not my parents'). I was able to claim the American Opportunity Credit which saved me over $2,000! The best part was having confidence my return was correct - they explained exactly which IRS publications supported my situation.

If your parents can claim you but don't, AND you can't claim your education expenses, you should absolutely call the IRS directly to verify your options. I spent 3 DAYS trying to get through to someone at the IRS about this exact situation last year! Eventually I found https://claimyr.com and used their service (you can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes after I'd wasted hours on hold. The agent confirmed that while I couldn't claim education credits if my parents COULD claim me (even if they didn't), I did have other options. She helped me correctly calculate my support test and it turned out I was actually providing more than half my support when counting my student loans properly.

I need to eat my words about my skeptical comment! After getting nowhere with the IRS phone line again today (2 hours on hold before being disconnected), I reluctantly tried Claimyr. Within 13 minutes, I was talking to an actual IRS representative who verified my situation. The agent was super helpful and confirmed my specific situation regarding education credits. She walked me through the support calculation properly and I discovered I was actually providing 52% of my own support when everything was counted correctly. This meant I COULD claim myself and get the education credits! The service actually delivered exactly what it promised - no scam at all. Saved me hours of frustration and potentially a lot of money on my return.

There's another option nobody has mentioned! If your parents CAN claim you but choose not to, they can still claim the education expenses on THEIR return, even if you file your own return for your income. That might be more beneficial overall if they're in a higher tax bracket. My parents and I worked it out this way - I filed my own return for my part-time job, but they claimed me as a dependent and took the education credits. We calculated both ways and they saved way more, so they gave me some of the savings. Win-win!

Has anyone run into trouble with the IRS questioning your support calculation? I'm nervous about claiming I provide more than 50% of my support when it's honestly hard to calculate exactly. I pay my tuition with loans in my name, buy my own food, and pay for my car, but my parents provide housing and health insurance.