<p>Thanks swimcatsmom. My DH usually fills out the FAFSA so I forgot the actual questions.</p>
<p>My head is also swimming…if I make $95,000 and am single, I can’t claim anything, right? :(</p>
<p>I had a tax professional say we can have the refundable portion of the credit, but my dd is 18, in college, and is a dependent on our return. We usually do our own taxes (1040a) since we do not have any extra deductions or income, just your basic lower middle class (under $50k)family. The tax person said the extra qualifications only mattered if the student was claiming the credit for their own refund. I’m so confused. The $1000 extra would be wonderful, but not if we’re doing wrong or will be in error with the gov/fin aid at college. I hate to pay someone a lot of money to tell me the answer to just one question, and then have it be wrong.</p>
<p>Everybody that’s dealing with these issues really needs to look at IRS Publication 970 (mentioned a couple of times in this thread). It does a decent job of discussing how to coordinate the credits, 529s, etc.</p>
<p>Tax Act Online worked well for me, as well.</p>
<p>Spiffy - if I understand what you are saying then what your tax person is telling you sounds correct to me. If the parent is claiming the student as a dependent then the refundable credit is available to the parent (assuming they have sufficient qualified eduction expenses). it is only when a student under age 24 is claiming themselves that the extra rules about providing more than half their own support from earned income becomes an issue. So you should be fine. (I’m not a tax accountant but the advice you received sounds in line with my understanding of the rules).</p>
<p>Thank you, swimcatsmom. I’m a stickler for the letter of the law and didn’t want to unintentionally do anything wrong.
I did read publication 970, and it’s just the part about if we can get the refundable credit that had me confused. Up until then, the publication does a good job of explaining everything.</p>
<p>I haven’t been able to claim either the Lifetime or Hope credit the past couple of years but was able to take the American Opportunity credit this year. I see in the OP that the Lifetime is actually just a temporary update of the Hope, so I’m wondering if it should be reported where FAFSA and Profile ask about the Hope and Lifetime?? All three credits are reported on the same line on the 1040, but for some reason FAFSA and the Profile only ask for the Lifetime and Hope and don’t mention the Am Opp.</p>
<p>My understanding from a previous thread is that the non refundable part of the AOC is reported on FAFSA in the same way as the Hope credit and LLC . The refundable part is not reported.</p>
<p>
The AOC is an update of the Hope. The Lifetime Learning credit still exists.</p>
<p>Another note, to further confuse. Room and Board is a qualifying expense for the Hope Credit if one is in the Midwestern Disaster area. DH and I figured we would be ineligible for any of the credits because DD received scholarships that equals normally qualified expenses. We didn’t pay out of pocket for any of those expenses. Our accountant said that her room and board is a qualified expense. We both thought NO! He directed us to the booklet mentioned, IRS 970. We do qualify for a Hope credit because qualifying expenses are extended to room and board for students in the Midwestern disaster area.</p>
<p>And the Hope is only available to students in MW disaster areas. For everyone else it is the AOC (for 2009 and 2010 tax years).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oops, sorry, I didn’t proofread well enough. Thanks all for the advice, I will now carry on with my FA forms…</p>
<p>I am still trying to work out which way to file my D and my return, making sure to get the most refund possible. I have a monthly payment through tuition management system and my D gets 20k grant each semester. Tuition is about 18k. I decided that, since the cap for the AO act credit is 4k, it would make no sense to add more than that to my daughter’s taxable grant income. She gets 2k left after applying the grant to tuition but we would get no credits, so, I applied our monthly payments (up to 4K) to the tuition, which then gave her an extra 4k of taxable income and 2810 refund for me. I was reading posts where people applied the grant to all the R&B, but if that amount is 10k, it would add too much income to the student and would not make sense, since you can’t go over the 4k in form 8863. Am I wrong? also, the way I calculated the lifetime credit, it does not come to any more than 120 bucks! why bother with that? it would be better to take the tuition deduction of 4k, if the AO credit was not available! Form 8863 directs you to multiply so many times that the original 2k you claim as expenses become 120 bucks. Am I doing this right? I still can’t believe I can get 2810 refund with the AO act, it can’t be right…</p>
<p>The max AOC is $2500. Where are you getting $2810 from?</p>
<p>the 2810 comes from the 2500 plus 300 tax overpaid. I keep reading people are claiming 1800 for Hope and 2000 for Lifetime, but those amounts get modified by all the multiplications in form 8863 and become minimal for people close to the 60,000 income bracket. I guess I feel that the AO with its income bracket to 90k (head of household) and subsequent 1k refund and 1500 credit can’t be right, that tax refund seems too good to be true, since all i could claim last year was the 4k tuition deduction. I am afraid to submit my 1040 and my daughter’s until I can confirm here (the most knowleadgeable forum).</p>
<p>You cannot take the Hope and Lifetime Learing credits in the same year for the same student. </p>
<p>Lifetime Learing Credit and tuition deduction have lower income limits than the AOC. That may be where the limitation comes in. Unless a student can’t take the AOC (grad student, not full time) then the AOC is usually the way to go.</p>
<p>I am aware that only one credit/deduction can be claimed for the same student.
For me, is deciding whether the extra tax my D has to pay is actually offset by my refund. I also wanted to learn whether others here had come up with such little Lifetime credit amount as I did, since in other threads people are talking about entering 1800 for the Hope in the FAFSA, or 2000 for the Lifetime, I guess those people have a lot lower income than the 60,000 limits?
For those of us right at the limit, is the difference between credits or deductions really that significant? Have most people gotten 2k or more back in their refunds due to the AO credit? This seems like the best thing that has happened in many years for people in the 60k income bracket! I am somewhat skeptic…</p>
<p>Can only one person take the credit? Or can a parent take some and the student take some on their return too?</p>
<p>Only the person taking the exemption can take the credit. So if the student is claimed as a dependent then the person claiming them can take the credit. If the student can not be claimed as a dependent so is taking their own personal exemption then only the student can take the credit (though the refundable part has more rules).</p>
<p>
The difference between a credit and a deduction is huge. A deduction only saves you the tax on that amount. So even if you are able to deduct $4,000 which is the max education deduction, and even if you were in a 35% tax bracket (which would mean you don’t get either) then the tax on that would be $1,400. More likely that you’re in a 28% tax bracket at the most. The AOC is 100% of the first $2,000 and 25% of the second $2,000 which means a max credit of $2,500. That is a CREDIT. Which means that much less in tax.</p>
<p>The only time a deduction may pay off more is if the State also lets you take a deduction and you get a Lifetime learing credit, not an AOC. Then you save the tax on the deduction on both Federal and State and the LLC is 20% of the first 10,000. So if you’re in a higher tax bracket than 20%, or if combined with State it’s that much, it may be better to take the deduction. Figure it out both ways and take whichever saves more. But don’t trust Turbotax to do it.</p>