I am a full time student who qualifies to receive educational credit but TurboTax is not adding this credit. Any thoughts?

Forum|Forum|11 months ago
April 10, 2025
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TurboTax Free Edition Online

Bsch4477

Employee

Are you or can you be claimed as a dependent? Do you have any tax liability?

Vanessa A

How old are you? Do your parents claim you as a dependent? What type of degree are you working on?

If you are under 24, you generally can only claim the non-refundable portion of the AOTC if your parents do not claim you. This means you would need to have a tax liability in order to benefit from the credit. You cannot claim the refundable portion if you are under 24 unless special conditions apply.

The qualifications of the credits are below:

Lifetime Learning Credit

You can take this for an unlimited number of years
Twenty percent of expenses up to $2,000
Non-Refundable meaning this can reduce the amount of taxes you owe, but if your tax liability is less than the LLC, your tax will be reduced to $0 and the rest of the credit is lost.
Cannot be claimed as a dependent on any one else's return
As a Married couple, your income must be below $160,000 for the full credit and below $180,000 for a partial credit

American Opportunity Tax Credit.

Available for the first 4 years of college
Max amount is $2,500 per student
Partially refundable credit meaning if your tax liability is $0, 40% (up to $1,000) is refundable
Be enrolled in a degree or credential seeking program
Not have a felony drug conviction
Be enrolled at least half time
cannot be claimed as a dependent on anyone else's return.
As a Married couple, your income must be below $160,000 for the full credit and below $180,000 for a partial credit

What Are Education Tax Credits

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Hal_Al

Employee

There's a new urban myth among college students that says they can get a $1000 from the government just for filing a tax form. For most of them, they simply aren't eligible. A full time unmarried student, under age 24, even if you don't qualify as a dependent, is only eligible for the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Credit if he supports himself by working. You cannot be supporting yourself on parental support, 529 plans or student loans & grants. It is usually best if the parent claims that credit.

You cannot claim the (up to) $1000 refundable credit if you are, or can be, claimed as a dependent by someone else.

Reference: Line 7 instructions for form 8863.

https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8863#en_US_2024_publink53002gd0e674

If you are eligible, you have answered something wrong, in the interview. But, a lot of people are just not eligible. See Also see this TT support article https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/college-and-education/what-are-education-tax-credits/L7TuLrVqZ

https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-credits-deductions/education-tax-credits-available/L691dvlGB_US_en_US shorter version

https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/AOTC

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/american-opportunity-tax-credit-questions-and-answers

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/education-credits-questions-and-answers

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/llc