My daughter was full time for only one semester, can I claim American opprtunity credit?

[raghuv]

My daughter was full time for one semester and part time for other semester in 2024. Will I be eligible for American opportunity credit? And is this credit only  once in a 4 year undergrad one can claim or one can claim every year?

[AmyC]

It depends. The AOTC is based on your income, your expenses and the student and can be claimed up to 4 times for undergraduate. When not claiming the AOTC, the Lifetime Learning Credit is available.

AOTC is limited to 4 years and you want to maximize those 4 years and be able to claim the full $4,000 of tuition paid - if possible. 

• Your student qualifies  unless convicted of a drug felony - attended full time one semester.
• Your income and filing status affect the credit.
• Your tuition paid along with any scholarships or college savings accounts, like 529/ESA, affect the credit.

See  What You Need to Know about AOTC and LLC

[Hal_Al]

Q.  My daughter was full time for only one semester, can I claim American opportunity credit (AOC)?

A. Yes, if she  qualifies as your dependent.* The requirement for  the AOC is only half time or more for at least one academic term (quarter or semester). There is no requirement for full time, to get the AOC.

Q. Is  this AOC only  once in a 4 year undergrad one can claim or one can claim every year?

A.  You can claim it every year, while an undergrad,  but there is  a maximum of four times. 

*Now comes the question, can she be your dependent if she was only full time for one semester?  The answer is yes, if that semester covered parts of 5 calendar months, e. g. January to any day in May, even May 1st.  Otherwise maybe.

There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("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, student status, a relationship test and residence test.

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 excluded from the support calculation
3. He lived with the parent (including temporary absences such as away at school) for more than half the year

If you don't meet the 5 month rule, then there is an income limit ($5050) for her to be a qualifying relative.

See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Ret...