I paid for my child's college tuition, $3760.00. Is that deductible?

[1krazykraut]

IRS says:  
Who Can Claim a Dependent's Expenses Generally, in order to claim the tuition and fees deduction for qualified education expenses for a dependent, you must:
1) Have paid the expenses.
2)Claim an exemption for the student as a dependent.

I do not understand #2.
Isn't he my dependent anyway since I paid for all of his support?
He also worked part time and lived at home the entire year. He was 20 years old for ten months in 2014.

[alwayson27]

To clarify... The amount reported on the 1098T sent to my dependent son, is recorded on my taxes since I paid that tuition; correct?

[ModestaL1]

Yes, paying for your son's College tuition is deductible. He should also receive a Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement which reports the amount of qualified education expenses paid by the student (or you) during the tax year. Educational institutions you paid tuition to should send you this form by January 31. 

Yes, you can still claim your son as a dependent under the Qualifying Child rules.  Your son can also file his tax return and receive a refund of the taxes withheld. However, he must indicate on this tax return that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return.

To be a Qualifying Child -

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.

2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.

3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.

4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.

5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child. 

6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.

7. The child must be younger than you unless disabled.

Here are links to the IRS website for more information: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p929.pdf
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch06.html#en_US_2013_publink1000295021

I hope this helps! If you have any additional questions, please feel free to add a comment below!

[1krazykraut]

Turbo Tax says: Kyle Make $3,950 or More Last Year which is the only factor that Turbo Tax rejects him as my dependent. If I say he made less than that, then he becomes my dependent. Is this accurate?

[philnormanjr]

Did you mark that he was a full time student?  If so, the earnings question should disappear.

[jalonsolabori]

No, if your son made more that 4,050.00 then IRS does not consider him a dependent, even if a full time student.

[DJS]

Your question concerns whether he is your dependent for the purpose of claiming the tuition and fees deduction The answer is that if you are able to claim him as a dependent on your tax return, then he is your dependent for the tuition and fees deduction. However, as indicated above, there are technical requirements for claiming someone as a dependent that are not just whether you provided support. Here is a good description of those requirements: https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894472-who-is-a-dependent

It's very likely that you can claim him as your dependent, but simply answering the questions about your dependent in the Personal Inf section will allow TurboTax to determine this for you.

[1krazykraut]

Turbo Tax says: Kyle Make $3,950 or More Last Year which is the only factor that Turbo Tax rejects him as my dependent. If I say he made less than that, then he becomes my dependent. Is this accurate?

[DJS]

I can only advise that you tell the truth. Anything else is asking from trouble.

[Hal_Al]

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, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.

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 considered third party support and not as support provided by the student.
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.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

It actually does not matter who paid the student's tuition. Only the person who claims him (as a dependent) may claim the tuition credit. So, for example, if the parents are divorced and the mother pays the tuition, but the father claims the student, on his taxes;  the father is the only one who can claim the tuition credit.  The mother cannot claim the credit and the student may not claim the credit.

Another example: the parent pays the tuition, but the student claims himself on his tax return.  The parent may not claim the credit.  The student can claim the credit (there are some restrictions on students under age 24).

[Hal_Al]

It actually does not matter who paid the student's tuition. Only the person who claims him (as a dependent) may claim the tuition credit. So, for example, if the parents are divorced and the mother pays the tuition, but the father claims the student, on his taxes;  the father is the only one who can claim the tuition credit.  The mother cannot claim the credit and the student may not claim the credit.

Another example: the parent pays the tuition, but the student claims himself on his tax return; the parent may not claim the credit.  The student can claim the credit (there are some restrictions on students under age 24).

[shyoumaker]

The IRS page you linked to says...

Tuition and fees deduction. The tuition and fees deduction expired at the end of 2017.

At the time this publication went to print, the tuition and fees deduction formerly discussed in chapter 6 had expired.

I found this...  https://smartasset.com/taxes/is-college-tuition-tax-deductible 

Say it isn't true (but only say it if it is indeed not true)

[Hal_Al]

It's true.  The tuition and fees deduction expired at the end of 2017.  

BUT IT WAS BROUGHT BACK RETROACTIVELY IN EARLY 2020.  That is, you may claim it for 2018 (by filing an amended return) or 2019.

Despite the June 2019 date on this thread, this is a much older post. The June 2019 date is only when the old stuff was transferred to the new forum

[shyoumaker]

So I guess the AOTC or LLC are our best bet?

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:9yp42nTGdqEJ:https://www.creditkarma.com/tax/i... 

[Hal_Al]

@shyoumaker - Yes. TT will choose the best one for you.