I am a student who supports myself. My tuition expenses in 2019: $11,000. textbook expenses:$1,000. Why is my American Opportunity Credit less than the maximum $2,500?

Your American Opportunity Credit could be limited by your income level.

While your expenses exceed the maximum $4,000, this is not the whole picture.

It could be that your income was either too low or too high to receive the whole credit.

TOO LOW:

The maximum American Opportunity Credit is $2,500. Only 40%, or $1,000, of the credit will be granted regardless of your tax.

The remaining 60% is only awarded to the extent of the tax balance owed.

For example, if your entire tax bill for the year was $500. then the credit would give you $500 nonrefundable that was limited +$1,000 refundable =$1,500 total.

TOO HIGH: See this article from TurboTax Tax Tips quoted here:

The credit begins to phase out for:

• Single taxpayers who have adjusted gross income between $80,000 and $90,000.
• Joint tax filers when adjusted gross income is between $160,000 and $180,000.
• The credit is unavailable to taxpayers whose adjusted gross income exceeds the $90,000 and $180,000 thresholds.