<p>My son graduated in 2012. His school required that we pay the 2012 spring tuition in December 2011. The 1098 from his school shows nothing on the front of the form as no tuition was paid in 2012. However, the back of the 1098 form shows our tuiton payment was processed by the school in January 2012. Wouldn't we then be eligibile for the credit? The way the eligilibity for the American Opportunity credit reads, you can only claim tuition paid in that year. That makes no sense to me as the $$ we paid was for 2012 so I feel we should be able to take the credit! Thanks for any input.</p>
<p>The information used for our personal income taxes relates to when you receive income or when you pay expenses. The fact that you paid in December 2011 means this would need to be claimed on your 2011 tax return. It does not matter that you were paying for the spring 2012 semester. </p>
<p>Your income works the same way. If you receive a paycheck in January 2013 that is payment for work done in December of 2012, you report that income on your 2013 taxes, not your 2012 taxes.</p>
<p>Also, the AOC can only be claimed for 4 years per student, so if you took it in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, that would be all.</p>
<p>Didn’t you see the tuition that was paid in 2011 on your 2011 1098-T?</p>
<p>For some reason, my accountant only took this credit for my son the past 2 years, and had taken some other credit the first two years (Hope credit maybe?) Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had two kids in college at the same time. I wish I knew this was going to cost us a $2,500 credit as I would have held my payment and just paid the school late in January!!</p>
<p>Two kids in college wouldn’t affect anything (last year I had four at the same time). Maybe your accountant has a valid reason, but I would certainly ask…</p>
<p>The other credits were probably the $2,500 AOTC - American Opportunity Tax Credit which expired at the end of 2011 I believe. This year you could have taken (if the tuition had been paid in 2012) the Lifetime Learning Credit, which is less than the AOTC, but you could not have taken both in previous years - that’s why your accountant did the AOTC.</p>
<p>If you have already used the Hope credit twice and the AOC twice for the same student, you are no longer eligible to claim AOC again for that student anyhow. Lifetime Learning Credit is a possibility if you meet the eligibility requirements (the income limits are lower). If you don’t qualify for Lifetime Learning Credit, the tuition/fees deduction is a possibility.</p>
<p>I would provide this information to your accountant. First, it’s possible that the accountant used last year’s 1098 which would have shown the tuition paid in 2011 (so you actually already got whatever benefit you could get out of it). If it was missed and should have been used in the computation, then your accountant can filed an amended return for the value of the un- or underreported tuition payment. I would also ensure the college reported it on EITHER the 2011 or the 2012 1098 so if you do refile your prior year, the 1098 will support the claim. If the college missed it, then have them give you a corrected 1098 for the right period. The calculation is also complicated because some expenses aren’t on a 1098. You shouldn’t lose it simply because of a timing difference, although the benefit of it might be changed because of the time period. Best of luck on this!</p>
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[You</a> Can Get $10,000 Per Child In College Tax Credits, Thanks To The Fiscal Cliff Deal - Forbes](<a href=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/troyonink/2013/01/16/american-opportunity-tax-credit-pay-for-college-and-pay-less-tax/]You”>You Can Get $10,000 Per Child In College Tax Credits, Thanks To The Fiscal Cliff Deal)
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<p>The Hope Credit that you took for two years along with the AOC that you took for two years means that you can’t take the AOC again but you could take the Lifetime Learning Credit.</p>
<p>On your 2011 1098-T, Box 7 “Check if box 2 includes amounts for academic period beginning January - March 2012” should be checked. The 2011 form should have a supplemental section indicating the amount paid for the Spring 2012 semester and your tax software or accountant should be able to apply the information on the 2011 1098-T to your 2012 tax form (Form 8863)</p>
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<p>From the 8863 instructions:
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<p>Cash-basis taxpayers are cash-basis.</p>
<p>Different universities handle the 1098-T differently. D#1’s school matched our records perfectly. But D#2’s school handled things, um, differently. Among their practices was “no amount billed, no 1098-T issued.” I ended up submitting three pages of documentation showing that her Spring-semester Senior-year tuition was billed in 2010 but actually paid in 2011. Since nothing was billed in 2011 no 1098-T was issued … even though she attended in 2011 and the tuition bill was paid in 2011. YMMV.</p>
<p>Did the IRS ask you for that documentation, or did you just send it in with your tax forms? I recently had to submit copies of actual school bills for 2010 because the IRS said the school forms weren’t enough to substantiate the credit.</p>
<p>Since I was claiming the AOC with no supporting 1098 from the institution, I felt it appropriate to supply an explanation with my tax return. It included a prior year 1098-T which showed tuition billing, but no tuition payments.</p>
<p>OK, thanks. I was curious because I had claimed the credit in 2008 and 2009 and not been questioned, then suddenly for 2010 they wanted more documentation.</p>
<p>Q20. I received a letter from the IRS questioning my claim for the American opportunity tax credit for tax year 2009. What do I do? </p>
<p>A. You received a letter because the IRS did not receive a Form 1098-T or the educational institution did not accurately prepare the Form 1098-T for the student. Educational institutions are required to file a Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, with the IRS and to provide a copy of the form to the student, for each enrolled student for whom a reportable transaction is made. A reportable transaction includes payments received, amounts billed or refunds made of tuition and related expenses.</p>
<p>[American</a> Opportunity Tax Credit: Questions and Answers](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/uac/American-Opportunity-Tax-Credit:-Questions-and-Answers]American”>http://www.irs.gov/uac/American-Opportunity-Tax-Credit:-Questions-and-Answers)</p>