1098

[Stein9]

I paid my daughters tuition for her educational expensed and the 1098 is in her name. Since I paid for the expenses and she claims herself as independent, can I claim her 1098 as a write off since I contributed primary to the educational expenses? 

[Hal_Al]

No.

The tuition credit goes with the student's exemption (dependency), regardless of who pays the tuition. If you don't claim her as a dependent, you can't claim the credit.

But, the tuition, you paid, counts as support, for the dependent support test.  She may not  qualify to file independently. 

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and standard ("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, student status, a relationship test and residence test.

A child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” (QC) dependent, regardless of his/her income, if:

1. He is under age 19, or under 24 if a full time student for at least 5 months of the year, or is totally & permanently disabled
2. He did not provide more than 1/2 his own support. Scholarships are excluded from the support calculation
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

So, it doesn't matter how much he earned. What matters is how much he spent on support. Money he put into savings does not count as support he spent on him self.

The support value of the home, provided by the parent, is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants.

The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf

Furthermore, there is a rule that says IF somebody else CAN claim him as a dependent, he is not allowed to claim himself. If he has sufficient income (usually more than $12,400), he can & should still file taxes. In TurboTax, he indicates that somebody else can claim him as a dependent, at the personal information section.  TT will check that box on form 1040.

Even further, a full time unmarried student, under age 24, even if you don't qualify as a dependent, is only eligible for the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Credit if he supports himself by working. You cannot be supporting yourself on parental support, 529 plans or student loans & grants. You usually must have actually paid tuition, not had it paid by scholarships & grants.  It is usually best if the parent claims that credit. 

You cannot claim a credit if you are, or can be, claimed as a dependent by someone else.

[Bsch4477]

You can’t claim education credit unless you claim her as a dependent.  You have to determine if she CAN be claimed by you since if that is true she must check the box on her return saying that someone else can claim her. In that case, if you don’t claim her she can claim the education credit except for the refundable portion. If, in fact, she doesn’t qualify to be your dependent she can claim both portions of the credit. It doesn’t matter who actually paid the expenses in either case.