I was wondering about this scenario. A student has a tuition scholarship and saves his financial aid refund (Pell or state grant) in a savings account.
This money was included in taxable income for the year received.
Can the student use the money to pay tuition in a future year, and then claim the money paid for an education credit?
I know you can’t claim tax-free grants or scholarships towards education credit.
But what if the grant was previously taxed?
Did you include the money as an asset on th FAFSA? If so, I’d consider it ‘converted’ to regular cash and thus could be used as regular cash (claim the credit).
If it is isolated and not considered as an asset for other student aid purposes, then no, it is benefitted funds.
No, it was not included as an asset on the FAFSA.
IMO, which is worth what you have paid for it, ($0), then it is still ‘benefitted’ money. Do I think the IRS will know that? No. It’s your moral dilemma.
IRS and FAFSA are two different things. I don’t see how one affects the other. Strictly speaking, the education tax credit is determined by looking at educational costs in a given year, money paid to the school for educational costs in that year, and money received from grants/scholarships in that year. If she qualifies for the education tax credit, I don’t see how the saved money comes into play at all. (It was already taken into consideration as grants/scholarships for the tax credit’s purposes in the prior year.) Of course, I am not a tax expert … maybe someone with tax prep credentials can weigh in.