So, bioDad has informed me that he intends to take D back as his dependent (which he can do legally). How will D not being my dependent affect the 529 savings plan I have?
It won’t. anyone can save in a 529 account. You’ll still be the custodial parent for FAFSA/CSS.
The child exemption is the one thing that the IRS allows to go against the facts. Normally, the parent with the greater amount of physical custody would get to take the exemption, but the IRS rules allows it to be given to the other parent. Other credits and deductions can usually stay with the custodial parent (child credit, AOTC, medical deducions) but only one parent can claim them.
That’s good news, thank you. I am the custodial parent but will not be allowed to use D as my dependent/exemption from this point forward. The original court order gives him that right. Are you saying that I might still be able to take the AOTC deduction instead of him or does that require she be MY dependent with the IRS?
According to chapter 2 of Pub 970 only someone who claims the student’s exemption can take the AOTC. I don’t see an exception in the case where the other parent claims the exemption solely due to a divorce agreement.
Thank you, I assumed as much. I’m pretty sure that’s why he’s decided to take the exemption back after so many years.
I thought AOTC only covers tuition. Doesn’t your D have a full tuition scholarship? If so he can’t claim AOTC because there isn’t any tuition (HA!). All he gets is the exemption.
It’s the 529 that can be used for room, board and mandatory books.
He also may not be eligible for the AOTC if he makes too much money. Is he married? If not, the credit is only a full credit until $80k, and gone after $90k.
The QEE for the AOTC includes tuition, fees, books & materials specifically required for the program. If the scholarship is specifically for tuition & fees, then there might not be much to claim on the AOTC.
If it isn’t specified what the scholarship has to apply to, in some cases it is worth it to run the numbers assuming that enough of the money went to a non QEE expense (and hence is taxable income to the student) so that the AOTC can be claimed.
It is formally a “Skidmore grant”, didn’t mean to imply it was an academic scholarship and it does not specify what portion of COA it applies to. Total COA is $65K ± (with indirect expenses). Tuition is $49K, room and board $13K, indirect expenses $2660. Not sure how it gets allocated though, maybe it’ll be more specific on the actual bill or I can call finaid rep?
I did realize that the credit diminishes as income rises but I thought it was full up to $80K and then incremented up to $160K. Either way, I doubt they will qualify even at that. I would qualify for the whole amount if I could 1) convince him to leave things as they are and then 2) allocate the grant to first pay the room and board and then partial tuition.
There is a mathematical way of optimizing this.
Perhaps there is a win-win number in which you could compensate him to allow you to claim your D.
Your $2500 AOTC would cover a portion of that compensation.
It seems foolish for him to claim her if he can’t get the full AOTC. Uncle Sam is putting up perfectly good cash money here. There really ought to be an intelligent way for two people to agree to take advantage of it.
You might think so. About five years ago I finally convinced him to let me claim D and then we split the excess refund monies that corresponded. Those extra monies were diminished this past year (no child tax credit and I got married) and he was not happy. To boot, any refund he may or may not be entitled to goes straight to an IRS debt. Dumb. I’m just going to get all my ducks in a row and then present a case, but its important that I know who is entitled to what and how that works first.
My opinion (but good luck convincing bio dad of this) is that the parent who takes the child as a dependent (and thus benefits on his or her taxes) should also pay the child’s tax, if any, on the portion of the grant that the child has to report as income.
The AOTC is full up to $80k for a single or $160 for married (both incomes, of course), and $160/!80k for married filing jointly. Phases out after that to $90/180k.
It may also make a difference on what rate your daughter would pay on the taxable portion of her scholarship. If she is your dependent, she’d pay the kiddie tax at your rate, at her father’s rate if his dependent. If she is going to declare some of the QEE as taxable, it will be exempt up to $6300 and then tax at a parent’s rate. If it’s only the $4000 to qualify for the ATOC and she has no other income, no problem. If she has a good summer job, then it starts to be a tax issue when added to her income.
Okay, I’m good with the AOTC, that’s what I thought.
But, I’m confused (again lol). D has to pay taxes on the grant $$ even if it doesn’t exceed COA? There is still an OOP cost of approximately $15,000 including books and other indirect expenses. What portion is taxable? Her earned income will be about $4000 for 2015.
She will have to pay taxes on any scholarship or grant that exceeds QEE.
Okay, but what are QEE when it comes to grants? Does that include all tuition, room and board and indirect expenses? The grant was $15K short of total COA.
I think you’ve been referred to IRS Pub 970, chapter 1 before. COA doesn’t matter. Scholarships and grants that exceed the cost of tuition, mandatory fees and required books and supplies only are taxable income to the student.
QEE includes tuition, fees, and “required” expenses but not room and board. So, from the numbers you provided above, it appears that there might be a small taxable component of the grant. Using your numbers: Total COA = $65,000; grant is $15K short of total COA, so grant = $50,000; tuition is $49K; potentially $1K is taxable.
QEE is tuition, required fees (not insurance), books and required supplies (lab apron, goggles, special art supplies). NOT room and board, travel, incidentals, parking. If your tuition is $49k and books/supplies are $1000, and your grant is $50k, you wouldn’t have tax on anything. If you want to take the AOTC and ‘slide’ $4000 to the taxable side, you’d pay tax on just that $4000 (plus her earnings). With her $6300 personal exemption, the tax would only be on $1700.
Thank you. I’ll crunch the exact numbers (I gave estimates) but it most likely wont’ matter if its under 2000K because she generally makes about $4000/summer working and that puts her under the taxable amount.