Possible Education Credit?

[DTS]

I am wondering if this progaram called "Early College High School" would qualify for an education credit like Lifetime? Enrollment is for HS students completing the first 2 years of college while still in high school. Tuition and fees are modest.

Early college high school is a bold approach, based on the principle that academic rigor, combined with the opportunity to save time and money, is a powerful motivator for students to work hard and meet serious intellectual challenges. Early college high schools blend high school and college in a rigorous yet supportive program, compressing the time it takes to complete a high school diploma and the first two years of college.

Since 2002, the partner organizations of the Early College High School Initiative have started or redesigned 240+ schools serving more than 75,000 students in 28 states and the District of Columbia. The schools are designed so that low-income youth, first-generation college goers, English language learners, students of color, and other young people underrepresented in higher education can simultaneously earn a high school diploma and an Associate’s degree or up to two years of credit toward a Bachelor’s degree—tuition free.

Appreciate your help.

[BHoffman]

I would think this qualifies for the AOC credit since it covers the first 4 years of college enrollment.

[Koss]

Yes, but...

You can narrow it down pretty fast.

AOC probably won't fly, because for AOC the student must be at least half-time at the college, and this student probably isn't.

Tuition and Fees Deduction is out of the question, because it is only available if the college student has a high school diploma or GED.

That leaves one option: Lifetime Learning Credit. And I don't see any reason it wouldn't qualify.

BMK

[BHoffman]

Curse you, Koss. The dreaded weapon of that uncanny grasp you have of common sense

[Gary2]

Tuition and Fees Deduction is out of the question, because it is only available if the college student has a high school diploma or GED.

That's been revised. The new 8917 instructions have removed the requirement, though Pub. 970 hasn't been updated yet. It turns out it wasn't actually in the law.

[dtlee]

Tuition & Fees

You can narrow it down pretty fast.

AOC probably won't fly, because for AOC the student must be at least half-time at the college, and this student probably isn't.

Tuition and Fees Deduction is out of the question, because it is only available if the college student has a high school diploma or GED.

That leaves one option: Lifetime Learning Credit. And I don't see any reason it wouldn't qualify.

BMK

Burton,

Please take a look at this thread:

http://www.thetaxbook.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18821

Publication 970 was just released for 2011 and they also removed the High School Diploma/GED requirement from "Who is an Eligible Student" on page 40 of the new version:

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

[Koss]

Tuition & Fees Deduction

Gary2 wrote:

It turns out it wasn't actually in the law.

Wow. That's a shocker. I've never heard of such a thing!

I thought that all IRS publications were a perfect, flawless translation of the Internal Revenue Code into plain English, and that tax professionals can and must assume that whatever is in those publications is always 100% accurate.

In fact, I've heard that preparing a tax return based on a position that clearly conflicts with what is stated in an IRS publication is automatically considered frivolous, and will subject the tax pro to preparer penalties.



Yes, I'm being sarcastic.

I actually used to believe something like this. I used to believe that errors and misinterpretations of the tax code in IRS publications were extremely rare, and that we could assume an accuracy rate of over 99% in IRS publications and form instructions. I also believed that the errors, misinterpretations and gray areas that did exist were largely limited to relatively arcane tax issues such as depletion of timber, or gift tax, or things like the Indian Employment Credit (Yes, there really is such a thing. It involves Native Americans--not people from India.)

My wake-up call was the Uniform Definition of a Child, and the debate that raged for about two years over whether a guy can claim his girlfriend's child as a dependent, along with some other mind-bending questions that arose at the time. It all hinged on the interpretation of the rule that says that a qualifying relative cannot be the qualifying child of "any other taxpayer." It had a lot of people rather unhinged. The IRS finally addressed the issue with Notice 2008-5.

It was then that I realized that even for working-class taxpayers who have relatively simple tax returns, it may be a mistake, and in some cases even negligence or malpractice by the tax pro, to blindly follow IRS instructions or publications without looking at the underlying laws and regulations. Sometimes you have to actually read the Internal Revenue Code.

BMK

[BP.]

Thanks for the thread, Dennis, and the responses. A brand new "High School/Technical College" is opening in our school district where high school students can take college level classes. I need to brush up on this for next season, if any tuition for attendance.

[Burke]

Many, many high schools now offer dual-credit college classes in conjunction with accredited schools and have for some years.. We have never been able to take the tuition costs for these due to the education credit rules. Must re-visit this. And Koss' post about IRS pubs' statements not actually being in the law makes me want to re-visit the CRP payments thread a few days ago, where a Pub stated a rule that seemed contrary to an IRS notice. Makes you wonder where they get this stuff.

[DTS]

Thanks all. I'm waiting for a bit more info from the college I inquired about yesterday and will pass along any I happen to get. Good news for my taxpayer.