Tax Credit question

[esferre]

My daughter did her 2023 Tax return using the turbotax web product and I feel her tax return is not accurate and as a result she is missing out on a larger Tax refund.

She currently attends postsecondary school at a community college and her tax return did not include the Education Tax credits. I feel she should of been entitled to the "Lifetime Education Credit" and  I also noticed that on her teturn, the Scholarship she received which went directly to pay the tuition was taxed as additional income. 

She received a 1098-T form from the Community College in which Box 1 has the out of pocket amount she paid in Tuition and Box 5 the amount she received for the scholarship or Grant. There was no 8863 form included in her Tax return.  I thought perhaps she did not put the information when she did the return, but I figured this was not the case because they added the scholarship amount as taxable income and that comes from form 1098-T. Unless there is a requirement I don't know and theefore she does not qualify. This is her status...

- She works and lives by herself.

- Her income is way below the $90,000 limit.

- She is not claimed as a dependent.  

So my question is

1. Why did Turbotax not include the Lifetime Education Credit?

2. Why was the scholarship she received and which was used to pay for her tuition taxed as additional income?

Is this something that can be amended and if so, can the tax return be amended by herself using the Turbotax account she used to file her return.

Thank you in advance for any help.

[xmasbaby0]

Th eLifetime Learning Credit is not a refundable credit.  It can only be used to reduce any tax owed.  Did she owe any tax?

[esferre]

Thank you for responding. 

Yes, she had a Tax liability of over $4000. The worst part of the whole thing, in my opinion, is that it included the $3000 Scholarship that paid paret of the school tuition as additional income on line 8 of form 1040 and it also created a "Schedule 1"  form listing the scholarship. So, she got no Education credit and in addition was taxed for going to school.  I am not a tax expert but I think something is wrong.

[Mike9241]

we don't know what she entered which has a huge bearing on how her return turns out.

in her return, there should be a student info worksheet (SIW). answering the questions incorrectly or omitting the worksheet completely is what could result in Turbotax concluding that the scholarship was taxable.

as to the LLC (or even the AOC)

since she is not claimed as a dependent, she qualifies to get the credit (but the LLC is not refundable). To get the proper results the student info worksheet (SIW) must be completed correctly. if she is not going for a degree, certificate or credential then the scholarship is taxable (IRC Code Sec 117).  The SIW has questions about this

if she qualifies and the SIW is completed correctly form 8863 should appear in her return with part 3 completed

you did not explain why she/you would not qualify for the American Opportunity Credit. Admitedly the AOC has many restrictions. 

[esferre]

Thank you for your response.

You are right I do not know what questions she was asked as well and more importantly how she answered. I did ask her and she couldn't exactly remember what questions and more importanty what answers she provided. 

She currently attends a Community College for an associates degree. She does not qualify for the American Opportunity Credit because she used it while attending UCF for 4 years and got her Bachelors degree. She is attending this community college because she wants to pursue something different.  

At this point I have the following questions...

- Do you know if Turbotax keeps a log of the questions and the answers provided that led to the final Tax return outcome?  I think this would help in clearing up the Tax return outcome as well as help in not making the same mistake in the future.

- I am not familiar with the different Turbotax editions. She said she used the PLUS web version. Can she try to amend the Tax return using the web version?

Again, thank you all for the help and Happy Thanksgiving.

[taxlady28]

There is no log of questions asked and how they were answered.  I believe the only way to amend now is to download the desktop version of TurboTax and complete the amend in that product. 

She would need to have meet all requirements and also have enough tax liability to use the credit.

• For tax year 2023, the amount of your LLC is gradually reduced (phased out) if your MAGI is between $80,000 and $90,000 ($160,000 and $180,000 if you file a joint return).
• You can’t claim the credit if your MAGI is $90,000 or more ($180,000 or more if you file a joint return).

The amount of the credit is 20 percent of the first $10,000 of qualified education expenses or a maximum of $2,000 per return. The LLC is not refundable. So, you can use the credit to pay any tax you owe but you won’t receive any of the credit back as a refund.

My experience with TurboTax has been that if the conditions are correct for the credit, TurboTax tells you that and asks if you want to use it.  But that is assuming that the questions were all answered correctly and that the income and expenses are within the allowable limits.