Bottom line, the government tends to do two things with taxes: (a) raise income they need for operations, and (b) incentivize taxpayers to do what are viewed as socially good things. Social goods, as you can see by looking at the tax code, are things like having children, owning a home, giving to charity, education, and getting a break on medical expenses. People who don't do these things (or do them to a lesser degree) tend to pay more and they often notice it. Sounds like you're one of these people; I am too.
Some specific comments:
1. Depending on your dependent's situation, you can strategically look at their tax situation and your tax situation, decide whether it is more beneficial for you to claim them or not claim them, and then, if necessary (usually the support test is key - and keep in mind the support test is based on who paid for stuff, not who earned how much), arrange your financial affairs in 2024 so that the dependency outcome is what you want. As a specific example, the AOTC is usually more valuable on the parent's return than the dependent's return. But there are other impacts so you sort of have to do both tax returns both ways and see what comes out best for your situation.
2. On the AOTC, make sure you claim it for the four most advantageous years. Usually college students are in college for at least five applicable tax years. In the years you don't claim AOTC, LLC can often be claimed instead and provide a small tax benefit.
3. Paying back ACA subsidies has various FPL cliffs, so if you can arrange it and your AGI is above or below a repayment cliff, you can save a bunch of money. For example, if you're under 400% FPL, your repayment is limited; if your AGI is 400% FPL + $1, your repayment is unlimited. That could be thousands of dollars of difference. To do this probably requires careful AGI planning in December.
4. I personally think an HSA is worth it, but you'd have to switch your coverage. If you're on ACA, there are probably HSA-qualified plans available to you. I have a Fidelity HSA and it has several advantages I like: (1) I can use my HSA as the destination for my 2% Fidelity cash back which gets me the full 2% and an HSA contribution deduction on my taxes, (2) Fidelity HSA has zero fees and lets me invest the full amount, (3) I can contribute even without earned income, and (4) I can contribute for the prior tax year through 4/15 of the following year like an IRA, which is useful for fine tuning my AGI if I go a bit over my AGI target.
5. If you haven't already, check into your state's 529. You might be able to get a state tax benefit for contributions up to a certain level. Some states have restrictions on how soon you can take the money out to use it for tuition etc.; my state does not so in my state I could "wash": contribute $X to the 529, then take $X out of the 529 the next day and use it to pay tuition, and get a state tax deduction on $X (in my case it would be 5.8% of up to $6K per year).
6. Be sure you're taking any state tax benefit for income from US government obligations. This requires looking at the detail section of your 1099-DIV from your taxable account, doing some multiplication and addition, then putting the result into your tax software (or on your state tax return if you're doing it by hand) in the appropriate place.
7. As a general comment, just take a look at the 1040 and your entries. See what hurts you and see what could help you that you might be willing to do. The government's trying to encourage you financially to do certain things (like an HSA) - it's up to you to decide if you'd rather do the thing or pay the incremental taxes. Also consider the tax implications of making any changes which might be a tax cost - the classic example is a person in actively managed mutual funds with high unrealized capital gains where switching involves selling which incurs capital gains taxes. On that note, any CD early withdrawal penalty should show up on the 1099-INT and is an adjustment or deduction on your federal return.
