My son is a Junior in High School and taking 2 College courses that we paid $500 out right for how do I enter them in correctly

[ebertch]

I put the info in under the education section and used the 1098-T info we received but it says he doesn't qualify as none of the follow up questions apply to him as he is still in high school. If there is no tax benefit for the $500 paid so be it but I just want to make sure I am doing it correctly.

[KrisD15]

The Federal Education credits would not apply in your situation. 

There is no federal tax benefit and I assume you entered the information correctly. 

If the student had graduated and started college full time in the Fall, the expenses paid earlier in the year would have counted.

Therefore, if the student takes college classes in 2026 in his senior year of High School, graduates and starts college in the fall of 2026, ALL the college tuition would be claimed, even that paid while he was a High School Student.

According to the IRS:

Example 3. During the 2023 fall semester, Larry was a high school student who took classes on a half-time basis at College X. Larry wasn't enrolled as part of a degree program at College X because College X only admits students to a degree program if they have a high school diploma or equivalent. Because Larry wasn't enrolled in a degree program at College X during 2023, Larry wasn't an eligible student for tax year 2023.
Example 4. The facts are the same as in Example 3. During the 2024 spring semester, Larry again attended College X but not as part of a degree program. Larry graduated from high school in June 2024. For the 2024 fall semester, Larry enrolled as a full-time student in College X as part of a degree program, and College X awarded Larry credit for the prior coursework at College X. Because Larry was enrolled in a degree program at College X for the 2024 fall term on at least a half-time basis, Larry is an eligible student for all of tax year 2024. Therefore, the qualified education expenses paid for classes taken at College X during both the 2024 spring semester (during which Larry wasn't enrolled in a degree program) and the 2024 fall semester are taken into account in figuring any American opportunity credit.

[Hal_Al]

The ability of the parent of a high school student to claim the education credit is limited.  If these courses are provided by an eligible college, this cost qualifies for the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC). The school must have policy of granting college credit for that course, already taken, if the student ever enrolls there. In other words, it is a requirement that the course be a college credit course, even if the student isn't currently a college student. It’s not that the student is post-secondary, it’s that the course is post secondary. Books are not a qualifying expense, unless included in the course fee. You must have paid tuition to the college and not the high school in order to claim the expenses on your return.  The LLC is 20% of tuition paid.

https://www.taxact.com/support/22177/2023/education-credits-high-school-student-taking-college-class...

As @KrisD15  said, high school students are not usually eligible for the more generous American Opportunity Credit (AOC), unless they are officially enrolled as a degree candidate.  Even if eligible, you wouldn't want to use the AOC now, as it can only be used 4 times and will be worth more later ($2500/yr rather than $500), in actual college. 

In TurboTax (TT), after answering no to being a degree candidate or enrolled in a certificate program, you should get a pop up asking "Was (student name) taking college level classes". Check yes.