American opportunity credit

[badejurt]

Both my husband and I are students who should qualify for the American Opportunity Credit (AOC). Because we filed jointly, the AOC was only applied once. Should we file separately to both receive the credit?

[ChristinaS · Accepted solution]

Definitely not. You can't get the credit at all if your return is Married Filing Separately.

If you both qualify, you both get it. You go through the Education section twice, as eligibility is determined independently of your spouse's eligibility.

• Did you go through the education selection twice, selecting each of you?
• Who of the two is not getting it?
• How much is your credit, and where are you looking?

Please review your education entries and report back with more detailed information.

[badejurt]

I cannot tell which of us received the credit. At the end of inputting each of our information, it says that we qualify. It does not indicate in the summary who received it and who did not.

[ChristinaS]

How much is the credit in the summary?

[badejurt]

2500.00

[ChristinaS]

Ok- I tested the scenario out and it does work. So, that means one of you is not getting it because you (presumably) answered something incorrectly. Please tell me what numbers are in what boxes of your 1098-T forms please.
In the meantime, edit each student to see if you can spot your own error. There is a reason, though I am sorry that its not clear which of you it is.

[badejurt]

--My 1098-T--
box 2: 24,305.50
box 5: 24,360.00
box 8: checked

--My Husband--
box 2: 13,251.50
box 5: 7970.00
box 7: checked
box 8: checked

[ChristinaS]

Bingo. according to your 1098-T, your scholarship is more than your expenses. You can't get a credit if that's the case.

[ChristinaS]

If some of the scholarship relates to 2015, there's a screen that asks if the scholarship relates to another tax year. You need to answer that question.

[badejurt]

I see. I had a 4,000.00 parent contribution, which I ended up paying. I suppose that doesn't count, since my parents were supposed to pay it?

[ChristinaS]

your 1098-t says you were billed $24k and scholarships were for $24k- where does the $4k come from? Also, was some of that scholarship related to tuition that was billed in 2015? This question is critical.