Question

AOTC

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
January 31, 2022
1 reply
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Turbo tax is not letting my child claim the AOTC (American Opportunity Tax Credit) because they can be claimed as a dependent on my return. However, I am not going to claim them as a dependent because they will get more credit for the AOTC than I will due to phasing out on my return. Why is turbo tax not letting them claim the credit? Thanks

B

Bsch4477

Employee

In the personal information section you should see two questions. One asks if the taxpayer CAN be claimed as a dependent and the second one asks if the taxpayer actually is going to be claimed. Be sure those are answered correctly.
You will also see questions about whether the taxpayer has a living parent and whether the taxpayer earns more than half of their support.

Critter-3

Even if you are not going to claim them as a dependent they will only be eligible for the NON refundable AOTC ... they cannot get the refundable portion. So if their tax liability is already at zero it will not help them any.

T

TaxGuy11Author

Hi Critter-3, their tax liability is zero, but as I understand the AOTC still allows a portion of the credit beyond that, up to 1,000. If I answer all the questions to say she can't be claimed by anyone else and supported herself, it gives her the 1,000 credit. But if I say she can be claimed by someone else but won't be claimed, it says she isn't eligible.