American Opportunity Tax Credit

[simon5553]

We currently pay a percentage of the total cost of attendance for my daughter's college. I asked the institution what exactly the family/student contributions are going towards so we can claim the AOTC (for tuition, fees, books, etc.--not room and board). They essentially told me that whatever we pay goes towards the cost of attendance, generally speaking, not any particular line item like tuition or room charges. Given this, is it possible to use the AOTC? Can we assume at least some of our payments are going towards room and board? I've copied the exchange below for reference. Any help is appreciated! Thank you.

Question to College

I’m trying to determine what my family contribution--student or parent contributions in the form of federal loans and monthly payments--to my daughter’s education is going towards exactly. Are we paying for some portion of tuition, room & board, and/or other fees? Just room and board possibly? 

Answer

Please note that our system does not allocate payments to specific charges. Tuition and fees are billed as a total amount, and financial aid and payments are applied to the overall balance rather than to individual line items.

[AmyC]

If you qualify, start looking and figuring.  Checked with the bursar's office or look online at the account. It sounds like there should be a total of tuition and fees and a total of financial aid and payments. Even without a breakdown, you could see tuition is $x and room and board is $y to come up with an allocation of the total payments. Keep a record of how you determined the credit.

[simon5553]

Thank you for responding! I am not sure how to understand your response though. Are you saying we should assume that we pay for at least some of the tuition cost even though the university scholarship is enough to cover it? Thank you for explaining.

[AmyC]

In your question, you stated: "They essentially told me that whatever we pay goes towards the cost of attendance" and "Are we paying for some portion of tuition, room & board, and/or other fees?" now you are saying there is a scholarship that covers all of the educational costs. I really am not understanding your question or the situation. My first response was assuming you paid and it was broken into various areas. Now that does not sound like the case. 

Could you explain more about the situation, state plan or some other more detailed information? There must be a bursar account at minimum. What does it show? Do you have a 1098-T? Is it an eligible institution? Do you qualify for the AOTC?