ATX High Fiver

It appears to me that you are forced to determine, among other things, whether the student provides more than half their own support. Pub 17, for ease of authority, indicates on page 25, third column, bottom of page: "You can take one exemption for yourself unless you can be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer. If another taxpayer is entitled to claim you as a dependent, you cannot take an exemption for yourself even if the other taxpayer does not actually claim you as a dependent." This is also highlighted on page 27, first column, top of page. And, it appears in other places in Pub 17. This tells me that "electing" to determine who gets the greater benefit (because of the education expenses, for example) does not exist although most tax preparers seem to ignore this provision of the tax code in preparing the tax returns for parents and children. If the IRS has facts to the contrary, when a student takes their own exemption when entitlement doesn't exist, a letter could be generated by the IRS disallowing the student's own personal exemption and any related educational expenses. Something to think about.