<prompt> Human: Title is self-explanatory.I am 22, and was in graduate school for a semester. I paid for all tuition expenses out of pocket that semester. I also paid off one undergraduate student loan where it accrued interest.I received my 1098-E and 1098-T and would like to take these deductions however, based on my knowledge I cant because I will be classified as a dependent under my parents. I.e, they did support more than half of my support last year I lived with them. Nor can my parents take the interest deduction too since the loan is under my name. If my parents and I agree to not claim me even though technically I would be considered a dependent , would the IRS resent this or would they not care? I do want to stay as a dependent under their taxes to help my parents out because we recently just bought a new home. in all honesty, an extra personal exemption for them to reduce their income would definitely be beneficial plus they can take the education credit. I dont know what to do. This is more of a personal matter I suppose. hrm :  <response>: Once the year is over, the chips have fallen where they will on whether youre a dependent. You cannot gift your exemption to someone. If they can legally claim you, you cannot claim yourself. Your Own Exemption 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 cant take an exemption for yourself even if the other taxpayer doesnt actually claim you as a dependent. Also see: Example 2. During 2016, Jo paid 1,100 interest on her qualified student loan. Only she is legally obligated to make the payments. Jos parents claimed an exemption for her on their 2016 tax return. In this case, neither Jo nor her parents may deduct the student loan interest Jo paid in 2016. 