Response from Mr. Roger (appreciated) Can't claim educate expenses if it says we don't qualify. Asked why - Income too High Can she claim herself?

[hendricks777]

Her income is less than $500

Can we go married filing separate maybe and claim the education expenses if we can qualify with separate income husband $13800 wife $75 ?  

and thanks again to Mr. Rogers for responding to prior question

Remember says our income was to high to claim the college expenses ...never got a chance to even put in our expenses ....stopped up at that point...

[jerry2000 · Accepted solution]

Filing separately will not help. The rules for Married Filing Separately specifically prohibit claiming any education expenses.
The Married Filing Separately filing status is very different than the Single filing status. There are a number of severe restrictions on deductions and credits, and on the amount of IRA contributions that you can deduct, especially if you live together with your spouse.
You can not take the EIC,
You can not take the credit for Child and Dependent Care, in most cases,
You can not take the Education credits/deductions, and there are many other restrictions.
 If either of you receive Social Security benefits and you live with your spouse, more of the SS benefit will be taxable, and the person receiving it will have to include the SS benefit in their gross income when determining whether they have to file. If one of you itemizes deductions, the other must also itemize even if they have nothing to itemize.

Before you decide, you should carefully read the restrictions that go with MFS in  IRS Pub. 501, at this link:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

You should carefully read the limits on IRA deductions in IRS Pub. 590-A at this link:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p590a.pdf

In addition, if you live in a Community Property state, there are special rules you must follow for reporting income and expense. For further information on that, see IRS Pub. 555, at this link:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p555.pdf

and/or the Turbotax FAQ at this link:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

The question that your daughter has to answer on her tax return is CAN she be claimed, not IS she being claimed. If she can be claimed then she can not claim education expenses.