Hello Hal_Al,
How is it permissible for me to claim the tax-free portion of the Pell grant specifically as taxable income if you also said you cannot do this if the conditions of the grant are that it be used to pay for qualified expenses? Aren’t these essentially the conditions of the Pell grant? The grants I had were Pell grant and ones similar to it. All of my combined grants were used to pay tuition by the university up front before I then received a direct deposit as a result of tuition refund. I think I understand well that the whole refund that went to my account is taxable, but that doesn’t count towards AOTC because all of that went to room and board. Can I actually claim that a portion of the Pell grant that was realistically used to pay my tuition and fees is taxable, so that I can earn the AOTC? Thank you!
Jamison
