My dependent had American Opportunity credit 3 previous years, TurboTax prefilled 3 on form correctly, I confirmed yes, but Form 8863, question 23 showed No - why?

[BillM223]

First, did your dependent ever take the Hope Credit?

Second, when you say, "TurboTax prefilled 3 on form correctly", where are you referring to? In the TurboTax interview where it asks, "Enter the number of prior years that the American Opportunity Credit and Hope Credit have been claimed for [name]"? Or somewhere else?

Third, when you answered "Yes" to "Yes, [name] received one or both of these credits in a prior year", did several more lines appear below, and what were the values in the boxes below (if any)?

[fsu84swo]

Hi - 1) no.  2) Yes, the number was prefilled in the interview section.  3) I answered yes in the interview, but I did not see several more lines below breaking out my dependents.  This is the third year my dependent was eligible, and the third year I'm using TurboTax, so I expect the system to know what was submitted the previous years and account for it.  I appreciate the help.

[KrisD15]

Form 8863 line 23 asks “Has the Hope Scholarship Credit or American opportunity credit been claimed for this student for any 4 tax years before 2020? “

You say it was claimed THREE years, not FOUR, so the question is properly answered "NO". 

If you claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit on your 2020 return, that credit will no longer be available for that student going forward. 

[fsu84swo]

Thanks for the clarification - I read too much into the question, makes sense now!

[PhoneJill]

I was thrown by this, too! Thanks @KrisD15 

The question is very poorly worded and too ambiguous.

According to TurboTax, in 2025 the Form 8863 Question 23 reads:

"Has the American opportunity credit been claimed for this student for any 4 prior tax years?"

My son, the student (or, more accurately, the taxpayer for whom my student is a dependent) received the tax credit in 2 prior years (2022 & 2024) thus the credit has been claimed for this student in "any" prior tax year.

In my case, the answer seems like it should be "Yes" and yet TurboTax marked it "No" so I started researching this further and ended up here.

Seems to me the question could simply be worded: 

"Has the American opportunity credit already been claimed for this student for 4 prior tax years?"

(remove 'any')

I'm glad TurboTax knows what the IRS means versus what it said!