Limits on educational credit

[barbgreenx]

Hi Everyone

My client has a 1098-T  for his dependent son. When entering box 1 for 6,000.00

and $11,068. in box 5 scholarships and grants. After everything was enter the Education credit

was zero. Is this correct?  Does the scholarships grant reduce the credit?

Thank You in advance.

B Green

[sjrcpa]

You can only get the credit for out of pocket expense. If tuition was fully paid by a scholarship, there is nothing upon which to claim a credit.

[abctax55]

And you need to evaluate if some of the excess of the scholarship over the actual tuition is taxable.

[TaxGuyBill]

1) First, check if the 1098-T is correct.  They are often incorrect.  Get a printout from the college of the 'financial account' of the student that shows the itemized amounts.

2) As it stands now, the scholarship offset the tuition.  So you have $0 of tuition, and the STUDENT needs to report $5,068 of TAXABLE scholarships on his return.

3) Many scholarships/grants are flexible and can be applied to non-tuition.  If that is the case, you can selectively assign the student to report MORE taxable scholarship on their return.  The would potentially allow the parent to claim the credit.  For example, if the student reported $9,068 of taxable scholarships on his return, the parent's could claim $4000 of tuition for the educational credits.

4) If the student has other income, the student may have Kiddie Tax, so watch for that.