Can my dependent claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit on small portion of tuition when I don't qualify?

[TM999]

Quick facts:

• My daughter was a full-time first-year college student in 2022.
• I claim her as my dependent.
• I paid most of her tuition from a 529 plan.
• I cannot claim the AOTC myself because my income is too high.
• My daughter paid a small portion of her tuition, about $900, out of her own pocket and not from any tax-advantaged account, directly to the institution as partial payment of a fully qualified tuition bill.
• She has a 1098-T which includes a scholarship amount of about $1000 in box 5.
• She is a US citizen with some earned income (well under the AOTC qualifying limit), has a TIN, etc.

Question: Can my daughter claim the AOTC credit on her return in that full $900 amount?

Thank you in advance.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

No.  Dependents are not eligible to claim education credits.

[TM999]

Thank you for the quick reply but that does not appear to be correct according to the IRS:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf

Bottom of page 19: "If there are qualified education expenses for your dependent during a tax year, either you or your dependent, but not both of you, can claim an American opportunity credit for your dependent's expenses for that year."

[xmasbaby0]

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3262983-who-is-eligible-to-take-the-american-opportunity-tax-credi...

[TM999]

Dang, I stand corrected. If I had read the very next couple sentences after what I quoted above I'd know that...lol. Thank you for correcting me.