American opportunity credit on Form 8863 line 23

[shellypn]

I am concerned that on line 23 of Form 8863 it says: Has the American Opportunity Credit been claimed in the past 4 years.   The forms says No.   But we have taken the Credit before in 2013.  It does verify that information on the Student Info Worksheet.  It says How many times has the student taken the Credit before on line 8 of the worksheet... it does say 1.  Why is there a conflict in this information on Turbo Tax?  And should I be concerned?

[MiriamF · Accepted solution]

You shouldn't be concerned.

If the only time you claimed the American Opportunity Credit was in 2013, then the information is being transmitted correctly when it says it was claimed once before. When the program reports No, it is only looking at the previous year.

The only part that is being reported to the federal government is form 8863. Check line 23 of that form. If the No box is checked, you're good!

[svijay67]

Dear Turbo Tax Miriam - Yes. I Understand the only part reported to federal government is Form 8863 and that is precisely the concern of this person and mine as well; on line 23 of Form 8863 it says: Has the American Opportunity Credit been claimed in the past 4 years? The correct answer should be YES and not NO. TurboTax may be looking at the previous year and report NO, but the form 8863 is not asking for only previous year in line 23.

[MiriamF]

About the only thing I can think of to do is to work on the assumption that there was a glitch in data entry that can be corrected by deleting and re-entering the relevant forms. In this case, the only applicable forms are the 1098-T, the 8863 and (if you have one) the 1099-Q.

[knam21703]

AOTC is for 4 years per child.  Turbotax let me go ahead for the 5th year for 2015 and it did not work!  I am trying to fix it now.   Be careful, check that you do not take more than 4 years per child.