Using lifetime learning credit

[mmproctor0102]

It has been established that i am better eaiting till my daughter is a fulltime collage student to take advantage of the american opportumity credit.We also qualified for the lifetime learning credit. Would there be any disadvantgage of using that till we can take full advantgage of american opp credit?

[rjs]

It would have been better to keep your related questions in one thread. When information is scattered in multiple threads it's confusing and hard to follow, and hard to see the whole picture.

I can't think of any disadvantages of using the Lifetime Learning Credit that have not already been mentioned in the other thread. There is no limit on how many times you can use it, and it won't affect your use of the American Opportunity Credit in future years. However, pay close attention to the first paragraph of @Hal_Al's reply in the other thread. You could get into a situation where your daughter completes her undergraduate degree before you have used the American Opportunity Credit four times. Then you permanently lose the ability to use it. You could end up getting a short-term advantage in return for a long-term disadvantage. It will take some careful analysis on your part to plan out the best strategy.

Previous discussion:

Is it best to wait and use The American Opportunity Credit for when my daughter is a full time colla...