Can I claim education credits from previous years today?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 1, 2019
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TurboTax Free Edition Online

Employee

No. Scholarships, qualified educations expenses and their associated credits can only be claimed in the tax year they actually occur. It does not matter what tax year the scholarship, expense or credit might be *for*.

Hal_Al

Employee

It depends on what you are really asking. You may only claim educational expenses in the year you actually pay them and the education expenses must be for the year you actually took the classes. There is one exception, best explained by example: you may claim on your 2015 tax return expenses you paid in 2015 for classes starting early in 2016.

You may not claim an education credit on your 2016 return for classes in a previous year, regardless of what year you paid those expenses.

However, if you attended class and paid expenses in 2014 (for example), and you (or your parents if your were their dependent) failed to claim a credit on your 2014 return, you may now file an amended 2014 return to claim the credit.

M

mimi24

ok that was my question about filing amended returns for previous years to get federal credits for tuition expenses. My nephew is a graduate student now and I don't know if he took advantage of these credits. My question was if he could go back and file amended returns for the previous years that he has been in school.

X

xmasbaby0

Employee

The other thing you need to tell us--or at least know--is if your nephew was claimed as a dependent on anyone else's tax return when he was an undergraduate student. If he was someone else's dependent then the person who claimed him is the one who could get the education credits--not your nephew. A dependent cannot claim the education credits.

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**