Find number of years for American Opportunity/Hope Credits.

You--or your parents or whoever could have claimed you as a dependent---can use the AOC a total of four times before you get a bachelors degree.   You will have to check with anyone who could have claimed you as a dependent in a past year as well as check your own tax returns to see how many times you have used it.

If you have copies of your prior year tax returns, you can check them to see how many times you claimed the credit. For example, you can start looking at the tax returns from the year you started going to college and view tax returns to see the year you first claimed the credit it. 

If you used TurboTax for the past years, please visit How do I access a prior-year return? to access your older returns if you don't have them available.

If you did not use TurboTax in the past or don't have access to your returns, please visit Get Your Tax Record to order transcripts of these returns from the IRS

Since Form 1040 changes, year to year, you will have to look at the Form 1040 to search for the American Opportunity Credit claimed in prior years. For example, for Tax Year 2021 or Tax Year 2020, you will look at Line 29 of Form 1040 to see if you claimed the credit.

You can claim the American Opportunity Credit for 4 years. If your parents claimed you as a dependent in the past, you will have to refer to their tax returns as well.