I took the American Opp Tax credit for 4 years for son. In 2017 5th year (he got a degree, but I paid 1 sem of tutition, can I use Lifetime Learning Cr or deduct tuition?

[Fosh1]

Son got Full time job for last 6 months of 2017 so I can't claim him. 

[KarenJ · Accepted solution]

Yes, you can use the Lifetime Learning Credit every year if your son qualifies.

You are eligible to claim the Lifetime Learning Credit if all of the following requirements are met:

• You (or your dependent or a third party) paid qualified education expenses for higher education.
• You paid the education expenses for an eligible student.
• The eligible student is you, your spouse, or a dependent you claim an exemption for on your tax return.
• Your modified adjusted gross income is less than $68,000 ($136,000 if you are married filing jointly).
• The credit is reduced between $58,000 and $68,000 ($116,000 and $136,000).

[Edited 03.18.20 | 1:25 pm]

[Hal_Al]

Yes. There is no limit for the LLC. But, you can only claim it if you can claim the dependent. If not, the student can claim it even though he didn't pay it.

As to claiming your son as a dependent:

Graduation year

If he/she was a student (under 24) for at least 5 months and lived with you for more than half the year, and did not provide more than 1/2 his own support for the whole year, you can still claim him. Be sure he knows you're claiming him, so he doesn't claim himself. He can only be claimed once. But, he can "file taxes" without claiming his own exemption.

The real question is who should be claiming him in this "transition" year to adulthood. You two have to agree on who is going to claim his exemption. Each should do their taxes both ways and see which way the family comes out best.  Even then, you have to meet the rules. The rule is that a child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” dependent, regardless of  his income, if:

1. he is a full time student under 24 for at least 5 calendar months of the year (graduating in May usually means you meet the 5 month rule)

2. he did not provide more than 1/2 his own support  (scholarships are considered 3rd party support and not support provided by the student). 

3. lived with the parent (including time away at school) for more than half the year

So, it usually hinges on  "Did he provide more than 1/2 his own support in 2017.

The support value of the home you provided is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants. IRS Publication 501 on page 20 has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

[Hal_Al]

answer edited