Can I claim tax credit for non-dependent child's college tuition, if sharing cost with his mom, the custodial parent

[d_mack]

Hi,

My son will attend his first year of college. I do not claim him as a dependent. I plan to pay half of his college costs (tuition etc). The other half would be paid by his mother, who is the custodial parent and claims him as dependent. Is there any way that I can file for a tax credit toward my share of the costs?

Thanks! 

[Anonymous]

For the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit, qualifying educational expenses must be claimed by the person who gets to claim the student's exemption. If the student can't be claimed as a dependent by someone else, the student gets to claim his own college tax deduction, and therefore gets to take the education credit.

[DoninGA]

Assuming the child is under the age of 24 and does not provide over one-half of their own support, then the parent where the child spends over 183 nights of the year in their home can claim them as a dependent (temporary absence for education is considered living in the home).  Only the parent claiming the child as a dependent can claim education expenses and credits on their tax return.

The parent who cannot claim the child as a dependent cannot claim any education expenses for the child on their tax return.

[Hal_Al]

 Only the parent claiming the child as a dependent can claim education expenses and credits on their tax return. But, she may count the money paid by both parents (and anything the student pays) in calculating the credit for herself.

[alancirino]

I received a 1098-E for several years showing the education loan interest for my son.

The Turbo-Tax program won't let me enter the interest because my son is no longer my

dependent and hasn' t been for several years. How can I claim this interest on this

ongoing student loan ?

[xmasbaby0]

Is your name on the student loan as the borrower or a co-signer?  If not, you cannot claim the interest paid on the loan. It has nothing to do with claiming your son as your dependent. 

[xmasbaby0]

STUDENT LOAN INTEREST

Only the person whose name is on the student loan and who is legally obligated to pay the loan can deduct the student loan interest.  If you did not sign or co-sign for the loan you cannot deduct the interest.

You cannot deduct student loan interest if you are being claimed as someone else’s dependent, or if you are filing as married filing separately.

The student loan interest deduction can reduce your taxable income by up to $2500

There is a phaseout for the Student loan interest deduction, which means the amount you can deduct gets reduced when your modified adjusted gross income hits certain income levels and is even eliminated at certain income levels -  

• If your filing status is single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er), then the phaseout begins at $65,000 until $80,000, after which the deduction is eliminated entirely.

• If your filing status is married filing joint, then the phaseout beings at  $130,000 until $160,000, after which the deduction is eliminated entirely.

Enter the interest you paid for your student loan by going to Federal>Deductions and Credits>Education>Student Loan Interest Paid in 2018 (Form 1098E)

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/can-i-claim-a-deduction-for-student-loan-interest