I have a child that was a student part of the year, before graduating. He meets the qualifications for months living home, attending school 5 months etc. I now have to show that over half of his total support came from me. I know tuition can be used as "support" but can student loans? We paid off part of his student loans last year and need to know if that is considered "support"

“I know tuition can be used as "support" but can student loans? We paid off part of his student loans last year and need to know if that is considered "support"”--->Correct; the tuition you pay for your child counts as support you provide. If your child paid his own tuition from loans in his name and not yours, that would count as support he provides(his own support I mean). While loans aren't income, they do count as support provided by the person who has to pay the loan back.If you paid the tuition, or you pay with a loan you have to pay back, what you paid is support you provided him.

Thanks, that clarifies part of it, I guess maybe I didn't give enough specifics. He graduated in May 2011, and had student loans that had accumulated over 4 years. In Dec we paid off approximately $15,000 of the loan amount for him. So the amount we paid wasn't specifically for tuition for 2011 school. He actually didn't receive any loans in 2011, he received a final loan in Dec 2010 for the spring 2011 semester. We wrote a check from our account in Dec 2011 but it was for part of his student loan that had accumulated over 4 years. Not sure I can count this as support we gave him for 2011?

“He actually didn't receive any loans in 2011, he received a final loan in Dec 2010 for the spring 2011 semester. We wrote a check from our account in Dec 2011 but it was for part of his student loan that had accumulated over 4 years. Not sure I can count this as support we gave him for 2011?”-----> At the end of the year, your lender will send you a form 1098-E that shows how much interest you paid during the year. You can deduct up to $2500 a year if you actually paid that much that year;you can deduct this as an adjustment to income, which means it can be claimed separately from your itemized deductions. However, you can still itemize your deductions if you want. You can claim the deduction as long as you paid interest on a qualified student loan in tax year 2011 ;you are legally obligated to pay interest on a qualified student loan ;your filing status is not married filing separately ;your MAGI is less than a specified amount which is set annually, and you and your spouse, if filing jointly, cannot be claimed as dependents on someone else's return. One of the most common misunderstandings about the Student Loan Interest Deduction is that a parent can claim it for helping make payments on their child’s loan. In fact, a parent can only take the deduction if they are personally liable for that loan. This means that Stafford, Perkins, and PLUS Graduate loans will not be deductible to a parent since the student is the borrower.

Thanks, that clarifies issues with the student loan interest but I still don't think I've asked the right question! I am trying to complete the worksheet to determine if I can claim my son as a dependent. I have to show that I provided at least 50% of support for him during 2011. A few months after his graduation we paid off approximately $17,000 of his student loan. So I am not referring to the Interest Deduction but rather whether or not I can claim the $17,000 as support for him during 2011. I know I can count rent, utility bills, etc that I paid in 2011 as "support" but wasn't sure if paying off a student loan is considered "support" for the purposes of this form. See attached for the form I am referring to. Thanks! http://www.irs.gov/app/vita/content/...support_17.pdf