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College student overseas - Can any expense be claimed?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
February 26, 2020
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If your dependent child is attending a college overseas in the Dominican Republic and you're covering the whole costs (no federal loans and no tax forms would be provided because the child is attending as a Dominican citizen)....is there any way to claim some of the expenses at all?

The child is a dependent and US citizen, but attending the college as a Dominican resident since she has double citizenship.

Parents covering every single penny and no tax forms will be provided by the college.

Thanks much.

Best answer by mglauner

A qualified institution for education tax purposes is any college, university, or other post-secondary educational institution eligible to participate in a student aid program Administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Most foreign schools are not.

Please refer to the U.S. Federal Student Aid https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/schoolSearch Use this link to find a list of eligible schools and their FAFSA Federal EIN's. For the state pull down, there is the option foreign country.

Not all foreign schools will be listed, only a few will be missing who may also qualify. If they are not on the list, you need to then contact them.

Click this link for more info on Education Credits for Non-US School.

M

mglaunerAnswer

A qualified institution for education tax purposes is any college, university, or other post-secondary educational institution eligible to participate in a student aid program Administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Most foreign schools are not.

Please refer to the U.S. Federal Student Aid https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/schoolSearch Use this link to find a list of eligible schools and their FAFSA Federal EIN's. For the state pull down, there is the option foreign country.

Not all foreign schools will be listed, only a few will be missing who may also qualify. If they are not on the list, you need to then contact them.

Click this link for more info on Education Credits for Non-US School.

V

vpujolsAuthor

Thank you very much for the reply.

I searched and the school is listed in FAFSA:

https://fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fsc/#/VIEW_MORE_INFO;direction=next;fromRoute=SEARCH_RESULTS;schoolCode=G12811

Again, the issue is that no federal forms will be supplied by the school because the child is attending as a Dominican resident/citizen, not a US citizen; although the child has both nationalities but applied as a Dominican citizen due to better tuition fees.

So, with no 1098-T or any other educational forms, can some of the tuition expenses be claimed for the child at all?

DaveF1006

The rule states A qualified institution for education tax purposes is any college, university, or other post-secondary educational institution eligible to participate in a student aid program Administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Most foreign schools are not. If your school is listed on FAFSA as approved by the U.S. Department of Education, you should be able to claim those expenses even though no 1098T is issued. These types of returns though are scrutinized by the IRS so make sure you have proof in the documentation that this school meets the requirements to participate in a student aid program Administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

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