are you eligible for AOTC? (if your joint income exceeds $160,000 the benefit begins to phase out and is gone at $180,000).
that simplifies @Hal_Al 's explanation if not.
But that credit is quite valuable but need to be carefull with the math. It might result in paying a small amount of tax on the Box 2 earnings on the 1099Q, but that is well worth it to secure the AOTC benefit.
