<p>Hey everyone...I've got a few questions. I received the Pell Grant for this school year, and just got the 1098 from it last week. I've been unemployed this whole fiscal year, aside from some work that I've done in my moms shop for cash, which has totaled up to a little less than $1200 in income. I'm 26, and not a dependent. Should I even bother filing? Are there any tax credits that I can claim? I haven't had any out of pocket expenses for my schooling, since all of my supplies have been bought with the remainder of my Pell Grant. The only expenses that have been incurred have been for gas to go back and forth to school. </p>
<p>I've found that the grant money doesn't count as income, so with less than $1200 cash income, should I even bother filing?</p>
<p>I’m an undergrad, but I have a felony for possession of a controlled substance unfortunately, so from what I understand I can’t claim it due to that. Is this the case? The conviction is almost two years old now, and I wasn’t receiving financial aid when it occurred.</p>
<p>comfortablycurt, if you were not receiving financial aid at the time of your conviction, you should not answer yes to the question about drug conviction. The wording on the FAFSA is as follows:</p>
<p>Have you been convicted for the possession or sale of illegal drugs for an offense that occurred while you were receiving federal student aid (such as grants, loans or work-study)?
Answer “No” if you have never received federal student aid or if you have never had a drug conviction while receiving federal student aid.</p>
<p>In other words, your conviction will not affect your aid if you can answer “no.”</p>
<p>That’s true but I think the OP was referring to the drug conviction disallowing eligibility to take the AOC. The OP says he’s already getting Pell. I went into my tax program and changed the answer to the drug conviction question for one of my kids to yes and it took away the AOC and didn’t ask any further questions about when the conviction occurred so I don’t think it goes away after any period of time for the AOC.</p>
<p>I currently live with my mom, but I’m considered a dependent as far as tax purposes go.</p>
<p>kelsmom-I answered no to the FAFSA question about felonies. As you said, that only applies to felonies acquired while you are receiving financial aid.</p>
<p>As annoyingdad mentioned, I think having a felony drug conviction is going to automatically disqualify me from the AOC for life. </p>
<p>None of the other tax credits/deductions are refundable which means they would only reduce the tax you owe to 0 at best. Since your income is so low, you don’t have taxes due to be reduced.</p>
<p>Sorry, I misunderstood. I did not realize AOC is not allowed if the student had a drug conviction. Gee, way to kick a guy when he’s down. Not quite sure why the drug convictions are relevant for either aid or AOC. We should be giving a hand up, not a slap down, in an effort to help people better their lives.</p>
<p>Those are my thoughts exactly. I first found out about the AOC about a week ago, and got excited because being able to get that would help me out immensely right now. I feel almost discriminated against over it…but what can I do? Nothing really. I realize that I’ve made a few mistakes in my life, but it’s a part of my life that I’m past, and I’m now doing positive things. There are a few other credits I’ve found like the Lifetime Learning credit, but I believe that can only be used as a deduction, and isn’t refundable. That one may have similar stipulations regarding convictions though anyway, I didn’t look into it.</p>