Thank you. We don't expect her to be able to claim the refundable part. I just wanted to make sure she could claim the nonrefundable part, IF her tax bill is going to be over $500. Frankly, I haven't looked at the single filer standard deduction, so she still may not have any tax bill at all, even with earning $18/hr over the summer.
But, for the sake of argument, let's say she earns $9000 gross this summer, housing is included so we won't be paying for it. She pays for her own groceries all year, and for her fall rent out of her savings (from the summer job plus what she has left in the bank from last summer). We paid spring tuition and meal plan. If the 529 pays the school directly for tuition and fees (and perhaps a "commuter" meal plan for lunches on campus) in the fall, then the only support we would be giving her in 2025 is the spring payment to the school of a little over $12,000. Would she qualify for the refundable portion of the AOTC if the 529 paid say $10,000 in tuition and fees to the school in the fall, and she paid over $3000 in rent for the fall and groceries all year (a full meal plan for 1 semester is over $3000 and room is about the same)? Or would she only be able to claim the nonrefundable portion since her gross earnings were only $9000 and her *earnings* need to be over the $12,000 that we paid in "support"?
