ljwalters Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 I'm thinking Life time but she thinks she qualifies for the hope. Situation: Taxpayer has been attending junior college part time for 8 years. Now she is going to University fulltime to complete her degree (personally I think this is the smart way to go No student loans so far) She went to University as a junior. She has taken no education credit up to this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janitor Bob Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 It appears to me that she has already completed her first four years of post-secondary education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee B Posted March 4, 2013 Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 The key word here is "completed". I don't believe we're talking about calendar years. We're talking the academic completion level. Of course since no education credits have been claimed yet, I believe she qualifies for the AOC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry D EA Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't the language say must have attended at least half time to qualify? If so, I don;t think she qualifies for the AOC. Life time learning credit for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 She's now full time, so why can't she take AOC? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacun Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Terry D... poster say that now she goes to full time to a U. I believe she qualifies for AOC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcjenkins Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Q12. Who is an eligible student for the American opportunity tax credit? A. For the American opportunity tax credit, an eligible student is a student who: (1) is enrolled in a program leading toward a degree, certificate or other recognized post-secondary educational credential; (2) has not completed the first four years of post-secondary education as of the beginning of the taxable year; (3) for at least one academic period is carrying at least ½ of the normal full-time work load for the course of study the student is pursuing; and (4) has not been convicted of a felony drug offense. Based on that, she qualifies for the credit. She has not completed 4 years, only two at the start of this year, she is enrolled full time, and I'm assuming she meets #4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joanmcq Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 It doesn't appear she was going to jr. College full time if it took 8 years to get beyond her sophomore year. I believe any years she went more than half time would be disqualifying years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MN dhawk Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 I vote yes for the AOC. If she completed four years she would now be a grad student. Should'nt she or her parents have taken a credit or deduction in the past. How about amending? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 When the Hope Credit first came out, taxpayers were told to look at the student's status (what the University classified the student) at the beginning of the tax year. As long as the student was classified as either a Freshman, Sophomore, Junior or Senior, the student would qualify for the Hope Credit, but was only able to take the credit for 4 years. As the AOC is a spin-off of the Hope credit, I'm assuming the requirements are the same. As ljwalters' student is classified as a Junior and has not taken the Hope(?) or AOC for 4 years, then imho, the student would qualify for the AOC. I'll try to find it in black and white when time permits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Curiosity killed the cat.... Intructions from Form 8863 state: Student qualifications. Generally, you can take the American opportunity credit for a student only if all of the following four requirements are met. As of the beginning of 2012, the student had not completed the first four years of postsecondary education (generally, the freshman through senior years of college), as determined by the eligible educational institution. For this purpose, do not include academic credit awarded solely because of the student's performance on proficiency examinations. 2. Neither the American opportunity credit nor the Hope Scholarship credit has been claimed (by you or anyone else) for this student for any four prior tax years. Example. The above seems to confirm what I thought. This student is eligible for the AOC. And furthermore, if the student is classified in 2012 as a Junior, and is still classified as a Junior in 2013, then the student would be eligible for 3 years....and maybe the 4th year also if the student is classified as a Senior for two years. This happens all of the time with Freshman in college. They usually start in the Fall semester, thus qualifies, and again in the next year, they are still classified as Freshman. Examples used to be given with the Hope Credit that a parent might want to file an amended return for the year of the student first attending college as a Freshman in the Fall semester, but would receive a larger education credit had the parent not claimed the credit when the student only attended 1 semester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathy Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Correct me if I am wrong but doesn't the language say must have attended at least half time to qualify? If so, I don;t think she qualifies for the AOC. Life time learning credit for me. Terry, jl's original post stated that the student is attending the University full time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jainen Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 >>look at the student's status (what the University classified the student) at the beginning of the tax year<< That is right. "Four years" has two separate meanings. First, it means whatever the school considers to be the first four years. The regs can't be more specific because different schools may be on quarters or semesters, set up internships, etc. Students might attend a community college full or part time for many years, but obviously can never get beyond the sophomore level in a two-year college. The second meaning is that the AOC (new name for the Hope credit) can only be claimed a maximum of four times. In the original post, the student is already a junior so she might only get two years of AOC. MN dhawk suggests amending to pick up those missed credits. However, they wouldn't be very big credits because community college is cheap and she was only taking a few classes at a time. Now that she is full time at university she might figure it will take more than two years to get all the courses she needs in the right order, especially if she is working on a double major. In that case she can still claim AOC for four expensive years as a junior and senior! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljwalters Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Thank you every one I now think I was wrong. I am going to give her the AOC. I just thought I would add: She is a great kind girl who desirves the credit if I can get it for her. While working and going to school one class as a time she has been supporting her elderly mother. Thanks again for clearing that up for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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