1098- t

[Brooklynd22]

Hello so I am a full-time student and I pay for my own college myself. And my dad was doing his taxes today, and they said that he had to claim me, but I used my 1098- t form. so I was just wondering how that would work would I still be able to get the money back if he claims me or would he get the money? or is there a separate credit for a parent whose child is in school? Thank you!

[AmyC]

1. Whoever claims the student claims the credit. 2. There is not a separate credit. If your parents home is available, they take you places, pay for insurance, etc then they may still be supporting you. If so, then they should claim you. If they claim you, then they would claim the education credit and get up to  $2,500 credit. A student not claimed by the parents, can claim the education credit. Often times, the student does not make enough to get the full credit, often $1,000 or so. Here is the IRS Worksheet for Determining Support. so you can have a chat with your parents. If you have already filed, they won't be able to claim you without amending your return.

[Opus 17]

There is one AOTC.  It can be claimed by the student or the parents.  If your parents claim you as a dependent, then they claim the credit only.

If your parents could claim you as a dependent, but don't actually claim you, then you can claim the credit in your own name, although you won't get anything unless you owe enough tax to use the credit (generally, your taxable income is more than $15,000).  There is no "free money" for being a college student, except in the rare case where you are over age 24, or your parents are deceased.  

In some cases where a parent's income is so high that it knocks them out of the credit, it is better to not claim the child as a dependent so the child can get something, rather than the parents getting nothing, but this needs to be discussed and some test tax returns might need to be prepared.