Is there a way My soon to be wife a college student and I been supporting her for 3+ years I heard there a way to claim her with her 1098 form how can i
Is there a way My soon to be wife a college student and I been supporting her for 3+ years I heard there a way to claim her with her 1098 form how can i
I assume "I been supporting her for 3+ years" means that her parents no longer claim her as a dependent.
You can only claim an education credit, based on her 1098-T, if she qualifies as your dependent*. This means, in addition to supporting her, she must live with you all year and have less than $4700 of income, on her own. In addition to the (up to) $2500 Tuition credit, you get the (up to) $500 Credit for "Other" dependents (non child).
If she does not qualify as anyone's dependent, and does not have enough income to normally file a tax return, and is over age 23, she may qualify for a $1000 refundable credit on her own.
The best way to get all that, and more, woulda been to get married before 12-31-23.
*There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit and student status test, a relationship test and a residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. The Other dependent (qualifying relative) credit is worth (up to) $500 per dependent and is non-refundable. That is, it can only be used to reduce an actual tax liability.
A person can still be a Qualifying relative dependent, if not a Qualifying Child, if he meets the 6 tests for claiming a dependent:
Closely Related OR live with the taxpayer ALL year
His/her gross taxable income for the year must be less than $4700 (2023) ($4400 for 2022).
The taxpayer must have provided more than 1/2 his support
In either case:
He must be a US citizen or resident of the US, Canada or Mexico
He must not file a joint return with his spouse or be claiming a dependent of his own
He must not be the qualifying child of another taxpayer