Claiming College student

[dreamin_disney]

Hello. My DD just started college. I was told we could write off some stuff but not sure what. Anyone know what type of stuff we can write off or claim?

She lives in the dorms. We pay for housing and meal plan. She pays for tuition. She got 3 scholarships totaling $2,300, Middle class scholarship $2,400, Student loan for $3,000. She attends school in state about 2 hours away. We bought a lot of stuff for her to move into her dorms and car rental. Not sure if any of that can be a write off??? Any advice or tips for those who have gone through this. TIA!

State CA

 

[Sadie22]

You can read about tax benefits for education at irs.gov.

 

[punkin]

I claim both my college students on my taxes as dependents. Of course, I pay for tuition and room and board and books outside of scholarships and loans. I don't get to claim and education credits because we are over the required income limits.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

My niece just started college last fall and my sister is planning on claiming/writing off certain things.
She too is unsure about what all can be claimed so she's just going to ask the people that prepare her taxes.
Personally I would not suggest trying to file your taxes on your own especially if you are not sure of what you can and can't claim.
Most places are reasonably priced and they know the ins and outs so I'd leave it up to the professionals.

 

[Hikergirl]

We don't get to claim anything for our kids at the federal level due to income limits, but we do get to claim at the state level (a very miniscule amount compared to total tuition LOL), so be sure to also check your state.

 

[Eastern]

Did you ever try using Turbotax? It walks you through everything.

 

[MomToOne]

Read these:
https://www.efile.com/student-education-college-tuition-tax-credits-hope-life-time-learning-credit/
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/aotc
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/llc

Room/board, stuff for her dorm room and travel/car rental costs cannot be included. Tuition/fees/books/supplies (laptop, materials for art classes, etc) can be included but be aware that you cannot include them if they were covered by a distribution from a 529 plan or scholarship.

 

[floridafam]

It’s not an easy answer. I would put all your info in TurboTax. TT will calculate if your student is eligible for any of the education credits like Lifetime Learning Credit or the other one-I think it’s called the Hope Credit.

You should receive a 1098T from her school with different amounts in different boxes.

I think something changed with the Lifetime Learning Credit this year. TT told us our son wasn’t eligible this year until we went in and added what amount he paid out of his scholarships for room and board. He then became eligible but has to declare part of his scholarships as income for the first time.

It’s woeth it to ask an accountant or use TurboTax. You don’t want to miss out on any education credits you may be eligible for. They can 1. Reduce tax owed 2. Possibly be refunded to you as a straight credit.

 

[dreamin_disney]

Read these:
https://www.efile.com/student-education-college-tuition-tax-credits-hope-life-time-learning-credit/
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/aotc
https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/llc

Room/board, stuff for her dorm room and travel/car rental costs cannot be included. Tuition/fees/books/supplies (laptop, materials for art classes, etc) can be included but be aware that you cannot include them if they were covered by a distribution from a 529 plan or scholarship.

Thank you. We bought her a laptop for college. A class did require and ipad so we bought one. Her art class did have a list of supplies. I'll need to look for the receipt.

It’s not an easy answer. I would put all your info in TurboTax. TT will calculate if your student is eligible for any of the education credits like Lifetime Learning Credit or the other one-I think it’s called the Hope Credit.

You should receive a 1098T from her school with different amounts in different boxes.

I think something changed with the Lifetime Learning Credit this year. TT told us our son wasn’t eligible this year until we went in and added what amount he paid out of his scholarships for room and board. He then became eligible but has to declare part of his scholarships as income for the first time.

It’s woeth it to ask an accountant or use TurboTax. You don’t want to miss out on any education credits you may be eligible for. They can 1. Reduce tax owed 2. Possibly be refunded to you as a straight credit.

Thank you. We have an appt with a cpa but I just wanted to make sure I have anything like receipts. We go to our apt and he does it right then and there.

 

[floridafam]

Take all of your receipts. Computer, books, supplies, etc.

Did you receive the 1098T yet?

 

[dreamin_disney]

Take all of your receipts. Computer, books, supplies, etc.

Did you receive the 1098T yet?

not yet hopefully soon. Our appt is next friday

 

[floridafam]

Most colleges have the 1098T available online. It should have been postmarked or posted online by yesterday.

 

[dreamin_disney]

Most colleges have the 1098T available online. It should have been postmarked or posted online by yesterday.

Good to know. I'll have to check the mail. I didn't check it yesterday or today

 

[floridafam]

My daighter’s 1098T was available in her student account.

We accessed my son’s by going to the Heartland ecsi website. They are like a central portal for university documents. You can go to their website and see if your school participates.

 

[Starwind]

IRS Tax Benefits for Education: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-benefits-for-education-information-center

 

[gmar1210]

Hello. My DD just started college. I was told we could write off some stuff but not sure what. Anyone know what type of stuff we can write off or claim?

She lives in the dorms. We pay for housing and meal plan. She pays for tuition. She got 3 scholarships totaling $2,300, Middle class scholarship $2,400, Student loan for $3,000. She attends school in state about 2 hours away. We bought a lot of stuff for her to move into her dorms and car rental. Not sure if any of that can be a write off??? Any advice or tips for those who have gone through this. TIA!

State CA

Hopefully you saved those receipts. I would suggest you have someone do your taxes for you. Many of those items could be written off. My daughters school gets catered meals from an organic/all natural caterer. We pay $100 month for this which I write off along with her uniform and any supplies purchased.

 

[richmo]

...We pay for housing and meal plan. She pays for tuition. ...

What raised my attention was "she pays for tuition". That gets into whether you can even declare her as a dependent. My understanding (and I'm definitely no expert on this at all) is that if she provides over half of her own support, and that includes tuition, she would file separately and declare herself as a dependent and you would not be able to declare her as a dependent on yours. The problem with that is the tuition deduction would come off her income, which is probably not a lot (?). If she's at a relatively low tuition school, that might not be an issue, especially since you're providing room and board...but if she's at a high tuition school, it could be tough for you to justify that you're providing more than half of her support.

 

[sksjasams]

It doesn't matter if your DD paid her own tuition:
Who Can Claim an Education Credit?
There are additional rules for each credit, but you must meet all three of the following for either credit:

1. You, your dependent or a third party pays qualified education expenses for higher education.
2. An eligible student must be enrolled at an eligible educational institution.
3. The eligible student is yourself, your spouse or a dependent you list on your tax return.

One thing to keep in mind is how scholarships are applied. Most scholarships are applied to tuition. In my DS's case, his scholarship covered all but $1141 in tuition and required fees. So all we can claim on the American opportunity tax credit (AOTC) is that amount, plus the amount spent on books.

 

[supersnoop]

It doesn't matter if your DD paid her own tuition

If paying her tuition disqualified her as a dependent, then she fails the test on #3

 

[sksjasams]

If paying her tuition disqualified her as a dependent, then she fails the test on #3

Oh, I see what you are saying.

In OPs case, though, I believe her DD has a very low tuition bill (scholarships do not count toward what she is paying) so I think OP is probably paying more for room/board than her DD is paying in tuition.