Q. I am curious how Turbo Tax determines that no will claim the dependent student and automatically calculates that the student will qualify for the education credit?
A. In the personal info section, she is asked Can she be claimed as a dependent. She answers yes. Then she is asked will she be claimed. She answers No. That qualifies her for the credit. Note: because you are not claiming her, you give up the $500 Other Dependent Credit, so she can get the non refundable tuition credit.
Q. You mentioned "little known option" is that something I have to select or it's automatically selected by the program?
A. It's automatic.
You don't say how much income she has. The AOTC is very generous and can wipe out all of her tax liability up to $2500.
