Married Filing Separately so mother can claim as dependent and claim education credits?

ladicen · Jun 3, 2019 10:59:14 AM

My wife and I want her to be claimed as a dependent by her mother so that her mother can claim education credits since she is the one who paid for everything. We married on 12-27-15, my wife's income was less than $2,000, she is under 24, and her mother took care of 100% of her expenses in 2015. To do this, we believe it should be as simple as this:1) Wife and I file MFS (I claim 1 exemption for myself, she claims 0) 2) Her mother then claims her as a dependent 3) Her mother can now claim the necessary education creditsBut we have some things holding us up. This is where we need some clarification before moving forward.On this website, <A href="https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Education-Credits-AOTC-LLC" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Education-Credits-AOTC-LLC</A>, it states: Who cannot claim an education credit? You cannot claim an Education Credit when: 1) Someone else, such as your parents, list you as a dependent on their tax return 2) Your filing status is married filing separately 3) You already claimed or deducted another higher education benefit using the same student or same expenses (see 5) Education Benefits: No Double Benefits Allowed for more information) 4)You (or your spouse) were a non-resident alien for any part of the year and did not choose to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes (find more information in Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens) and Watch out for these common errors made when claiming education credits 1) Students listed as a dependent or spouse on another tax return I'm interpreting rule 2) as "You/Your" meaning my wife, which means my wife cannot claim the education credit for herself if she files MFS. Is this correct?Rule 1) "Spouse on another tax return" is a little more confusing. I legally have to put my wife down on my MFS. Does her being listed as my spouse on my MFS, even with no claims or exemptions made, then prevent her mother from claiming the education credits?If her mother should be able to claim her as a dependent, if we file MFS, then her mother should be able to claim the education credits, right?Or is it really that "Your filing status is MFS and you are listed as a spouse on another MFS" and now whoever can legally claim you as a dependent cannot claim your AOC/LLC/education credits?Help is much appreciated!

Sounds to me like someone either needs a new CPA, or the current CPA needs to take a few refresher courses to catch up with the current tax laws of the day.