My wife has a degree from another country, can I still use the 1098-T she has for going to school in the USA in our tax return for 2016?

[wa2kdl666]

My Wife has her bachelor degree form another country.  She is going to school again and working on an accounting degree in the United States.  I want to know even tho she has a bachelor degree from another country can she still apply for the tax credit for going to school in the United States? 

Thank You

Chris Wachs

[Jhanna]

Hi,

I have a same situation, did you end up filing with AOTC credit?. Thanks

[LinaJ2018 · Accepted solution]

Per IRS, you can claim the American opportunity credit for only four tax years, you cannot claim again if you've finished your first four years of post-secondary school before the start of the year 2016. 

Use the link below to verify if your wife's school qualifies.  If your wife's foreign school is in the database, her school is eligible and her past undergraduate years would be counted towards the four years time span if to claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit.  Therefore, she will not qualify for the American Opportunity Tax Credit for pursuing her accounting bachelor's degree in the US. However, she may still qualify for the other two kinds of education benefit, the Lifetime Learning Credit or Tuition and Fees deductions. 

If her school is not in the system, it means her four years undergraduate time span has not been used up, she will then be able to claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit for her tuition and fees paid to pursue her accounting bachelor's degree in the US

https://fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fsc/#/SEARCH?locale=en_US

[JamesFan]

Even if his wife had bachelor's degree in a foreign country, she can still claim AOC? I am on the same situation, I checked another thread and the answer is no exception.

[dj-goodman]

There seems to be confusion around this topic because the IRS Publication 970 just mentions ‘4 first years of undergraduate studies,’ and there are no apparent exceptions or clarifications. However, the US tax code supersedes the publication in authority and in subsection (i)(2) —that redirects to sub paragraph (b)(2)(C)— it clearly expresses that those first 4 years had to be completed at an eligible institution. So if the bachelors was earned at a foreign institution not in the aforementioned list, the person may qualify for the AOC.
I believe the confusion stems from the fact that having a foreign bachelors do indeed desqualifies you from Pell grants, but as I mentioned, it isn’t the case for the tax credit.
You can look those sections of the tax code online. I know because my husband was in the same predicament. If you already filed your tax returns and turns out you qualified for this credit but didn’t take advantage of it, you can amend your tax return for that purpose.

[macuser_22]

@dj.goodman - you are posting on an out of date, 2 year old post.

[TaxGuyBill]

@dj.goodman   Just to clarify, the 4 years do NOT need to be a an Eligible Institution.  HOWEVER, it depends on if Eligible Institution recognizes the previous college.  If the Eligible Institution considers the student a pre-grad student (not completed 4 years), the student is eligible.  If the Eligible Institution considers the student a graduate (completed 4 years), the student is NOT eligible.

[brkynr]

@TaxGuyBill  Says where?