Discussion:Hope Credit or Life Time Credit
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Discussion Forum Index --> Basic Tax Questions --> Hope Credit or Life Time Credit
Discussion Forum Index --> Tax Questions --> Hope Credit or Life Time Credit
| 30 January 2008 | |
| I have a 36 year old client that has been taking flying instructions and classes for the last 3 years to get his pilot license. This is the first year I will be doing his taxes he wants to go back and amend his 05 & 06 tax years as he has spend about 3000.00 per year to get his license would these expenses fall under the life time credit and if so can I amend his 05 & 06 taxes for these deductions.(If I am reading correctly the hope credit is only for the first 2 years out of high school?) | |
TheTinCook (talk|edits) said: | 30 January 2008 |
| The Hope credit is available for the first two years ever of post-secondary education. It doesn't have to be straight out of highschool. If for example, your client just worked full time for many years after graduating high school, then decided to attend collage, he could claim the Hope Credit for those first two years.
Of more interest is if the flight school is an eligible institution. | |
| 30 January 2008 | |
| How do I find out if its an eligible institution? so if he paid for 3 years i would use the hope for the first 2 years and the lifetime for the final year which was 07? | |
| 30 January 2008 | |
| There are organizations that grant accreditations... I'm not sure what they're called, but I'm sure someone on this board would know. You can also simply ask the institution. If I had to guess, I'd guess that a flying school is not eligible.
You can (and should) amend 05 and 06 returns if it turns out the credit is usable for education at that institution. The New Tax Guy | |
TheTinCook (talk|edits) said: | 30 January 2008 |
| I haven't looked in a while, but if they can get FAFSA, they qualify. | |
| 30 January 2008 | |
| I usually use the same criteria of tincook.
if they get fafsa they propably are qualified. | |
| 30 January 2008 | |
| i looked that up and its for student financial aide right? he didnt apply for student financial aide-is that a bad thing? | |
| 30 January 2008 | |
| FAFSA is the standard application that students complete for financial aid. I think Tin Cook's and Ekcpa's point is that if financial aid can be granted, on behalf of the student, through FAFSA, to an institution, that institution is probably qualified.
Whether your client applied or didn't apply is not relevant to the consideration of whether the institution is accredited for purposes of your client claiming education credit. The New Tax Guy | |
Death&Taxes (talk|edits) said: | 30 January 2008 |
| You are asking the wrong question. Tin Cook is using FAFSA as a reference, like a dictionary. You are trying to find out if FAFSA considers this school eligible and would give aid to a student applying. Publication 970 page 19 gives a good definition of eligible institution. | |
| 30 January 2008 | |
| If the school has a FAFSA school code, then the institution is an elgible institution. | |
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