Disclaimer: This is part of a series of posts that forum moderators have identified as containing “bogus information.”

Taxpayers can use the expanded Line 42 worksheet in the instructions to calculate allowable exemptions when they choose to not claim dependents on Line 6. This is useful when an eligible student has to take an education credit on his or her own return because the parent does not qualify due to AGI limitations. A dependent student who could be claimed by the parent can not take the exemption even if the parent does not, so it would be “wasted” otherwise. The revised worksheet provides the exemption even if the child is not treated as a dependent for other purposes. Personal exemptions phase out at higher AGI than education credits so they are not affected by this strategy.