May I Amend My College Grads (Dec'22) tax return; she mistakenly entered 1098-T (8863); I think???

[AJB5]

My newly graduated daughter did her '22 tax return in Feb.'23. Now realizing she took Education Credit, via the 1098-T form (8863 form was generated in return) and it would have been better monetarily for parents to take the credit. Is it OK to amend her tax return and remove the Education Credit from her return? Parents plan to file extension. Then once amendment is in place, parents file the 1098-T form?

[Hal_Al]

Q.  Is it OK to amend her tax return and remove the Education Credit from her return?

A. Yes. Her amended return will probably also include checking the box on form 1040 that says she can be claimed as a dependent. 

Q.  Parents plan to file extension. Then once amendment is in place, parents file the 1098-T form?

A. It is not necessary to wail until her amended return is actually filed and processed.  You can file now and claim the credit.  You will not be able to e-file.  You will have to mail in your return.  Even if you wait for her to amend, you will still have to mail in your return. 

[AJB5]

Thank You!

[DaveF1006]

Yes, but changes need to be made to both returns in order for the parents to claim the educational credit. The daughter would need to be claimed as their dependent in order to claim the educational credit.

1. First of all, the daughter need to be eligible to be a dependent on her parent's return in order for the parents to claim the educational credit in accordance with the Qualifying Child Rules.
2. If she qualifies, she would need to amend her return to state that she can be a dependent of someone else in the MY INFO section of the return and then remove her educational credit.
3. The parents will amend their return stating that the daughter is eligible to be their dependent and then claim the credit.

[AJB5]

So, basically, I mail the two returns in together? My daughters amended return and parent's return? 

[Hal_Al]

You definitely do NOT mail them together.  They are not linked.

Two tax returns in the same envelope risks improper entry into the IRS computers. The people who open those envelopes don't get paid to check em, they just enter them. 

[AJB5]

Well, my issue is, IF they process the parent one first, then they'll reject it (much as they did when electronically submitted by turbotax), until the amendment to my daughter's is in place. I can't control which one they process first. 

What am I missing?

[Hal_Al]

Q. What am I missing?

A. Although that makes sense, it doesn't work that way. 

They process paper returns without the checks that computers do on electronic filing. The computer matching comes months later. By that time the amended return will have been processed.