Do they qualify for life time learning credit? Parents pay tuition for kid to take an extra credit college class while he is still attending high school, like college algebra or english. Qualify? Parents received a receipt that says tuition from the college.
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Lifetime Learing Credit
The short answer is yes.
Any tuition paid to college or university qualifies for the Lifetime Learning Credit.
The fact pattern you describe does not qualify for the Hope Credit, because the student in question is not enrolled in a degree program.
And it does not qualify for the tuition and fees deduction, because for that adjustment, the student in question must have a high school diploma or GED equivalency certificate.
BurtonBurton M. Koss
koss@usakoss.net
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The map is not the territory...
and the instruction book is not the process.
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Must be for Degree or Improve Job Skills
From IRS Pub 970;
"Qualified Education Expenses
For purposes of the lifetime learning credit, qualified education expenses are tuition and certain related expenses required for enrollment in a course at an eligible educational institution. The course must be either part of a postsecondary degree program or taken by the student to acquire or improve job skills."
See also page 12-1 TTB
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Originally posted by gkaiseril View PostFrom IRS Pub 970;
"Qualified Education Expenses
For purposes of the lifetime learning credit, qualified education expenses are tuition and certain related expenses required for enrollment in a course at an eligible educational institution. The course must be either part of a postsecondary degree program OR taken by the student to acquire or improve job skills."
See also page 12-1 TTB
In Pub. 970, on page 18, Table 3-1 explicitly states that
Student does not need to be pursuing a degree or other recognized education credentialBurton M. Koss
koss@usakoss.net
____________________________________
The map is not the territory...
and the instruction book is not the process.
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Deduction vs. Credit
I believe the citations above may be confusing "deductible" education expenses and education qualifying for "credits."
GKaiser speaks of a very restrictive set of qualifiers to allow a deduction for education as a Sch A itemized deduction subject to the 2% floor. The conditions are so restrictive that an auditor can almost always find a reason to disallow it.
The Koss reflection on the Lifetime Learning Credit is NOT the same as an itemized deduction, but rather a tax credit. And as far as restrictions, it's almost like the old Cole Porter classic: "Anything Goes."
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Originally posted by Snaggletooth View PostGKaiser speaks of a very restrictive set of qualifiers to allow a deduction for education as a Sch A itemized deduction subject to the 2% floor. The conditions are so restrictive that an auditor can almost always find a reason to disallow it.
From http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.... 19 of Pub 970,
"Qualified Education Expenses
For purposes of the lifetime learning credit, qualified education expenses are tuition and certain related expenses required for enrollment in a course at an eligible educational institution. The course must be either part of a postsecondary degree program or taken by the student to acquire or improve job skills."
So unless the high school dependent has established an occupation, I doubt that the Lifetime Learning credit would be available under exmination.Last edited by gkaiseril; 03-06-2008, 12:00 PM.
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The whole idea of a liberal education
is to teach someone to think and to learn. These are skills that would be necessary in about any career requiring more than a high school education. I also wonder what an auditor would say if the kid, who by the time of the audit would be 19 or 20, asserted that he or she intended to be a professional student.
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