American Opportunity Credit vs Lifetime Learning Credit - How do I figure out what year of school I'm in?
I'm trying to get my taxes done through TurboTax and I'm stuck on the education credits section. It's asking me what year of school I'm considered to be in for the American Opportunity Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit. I'm technically in my 5th year of college because I switched majors, but I'm not sure if that means I'm a "5th year student" or if they're asking about something else? I've been going part-time for the last couple years while working, so I haven't completed all the credits to be considered a senior yet. Does it go by how many years you've physically been in school or by your academic progress (freshman, sophomore, etc.)? I'm worried about claiming the wrong thing and messing up my eligibility for these education credits. Any help would be really appreciated!
18 comments
Join the conversation
NebulaKnight
The American Opportunity Credit (AOTC) and Lifetime Learning Credit have different rules about this. For the AOTC, what matters is how many academic years you've claimed the credit before, not what year the school considers you to be in. The AOTC can only be claimed for 4 tax years per eligible student. So if you've already claimed it for 4 years, you're no longer eligible for AOTC, but you might still qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit which doesn't have this limitation. When TurboTax asks what year of school you're in, they're trying to determine if you're still within those first 4 years of post-secondary education. If you've been in school for 5 years but haven't claimed the AOTC for 4 years yet, you might still be eligible.
0 coins
Sofia Ramirez
•Wait so if I took a gap year between high school and college, and now I'm in my 5th calendar year of college but have only claimed the credit for 3 years so far, can I still get the AOTC this year?
0 coins
NebulaKnight
•Yes, if you've only claimed the AOTC for 3 tax years so far, you can still claim it for a 4th year regardless of how many calendar years you've been in college. The IRS doesn't care about gap years or how long your education is taking - they only track how many times you've received the credit. If you're in doubt about how many times you've claimed it, you can check your previous tax returns to confirm. After you've claimed it 4 times total, you'll need to switch to the Lifetime Learning Credit for any remaining years of education.
0 coins
Dmitry Popov
After going through this exact headache last year, I found this amazing tool at https://taxr.ai that saved me so much confusion! I was in a similar situation where I had been in school on and off for several years and wasn't sure how to answer these questions about education credits. The tool analyzed my previous tax returns and education history and showed me exactly which credits I was eligible for and what "year" to put. It highlights which education expenses qualify for which credits and even showed me that I had missed claiming some eligible expenses in previous years.
0 coins
Ava Rodriguez
•How does it actually work with figuring out the year thing? Does it just count how many years you claimed the credit before or does it look at your transcript or something?
0 coins
Miguel Ortiz
•This sounds useful but I'm paranoid about putting my tax info into random websites. Is it secure? And does it integrate with TurboTax or do you have to manually enter whatever it tells you?
0 coins
Dmitry Popov
•It works by analyzing your tax history to determine how many times you've claimed education credits in the past. You upload PDFs of your previous returns, and it counts the years you've received the AOTC. You don't need to provide your transcript - the tool is looking at what the IRS sees, which is how many times you've claimed the credit. The website uses bank-level encryption and doesn't store your documents after analysis. It's not directly integrated with TurboTax, so you'll need to manually enter the information it provides into your tax software. But it gives you really clear instructions on exactly what to enter in each field.
0 coins
Miguel Ortiz
I was skeptical at first about using taxr.ai, but it totally saved me from making a costly mistake. I was about to claim AOTC for a 5th year (which would have been a red flag for an audit), but the tool showed me I needed to switch to the Lifetime Learning Credit instead. It also helped me understand which of my education expenses qualified - turns out my required course materials that weren't purchased through the bookstore were still eligible! Ended up getting $800 more than I expected because I was able to include those expenses. Definitely recommend trying it if you're confused about education credits.
0 coins
Zainab Khalil
If you're having trouble getting clear answers about your education credits, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I had a similar issue last year and spent DAYS trying to reach someone at the IRS for clarification. After being on hold forever or getting disconnected, I found this service that got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 15 minutes. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the IRS phone tree for you and call you when they reach a human. The agent I spoke with gave me definitive answers about my education credits situation and confirmed exactly which year I should enter.
0 coins
QuantumQuest
•How exactly does this work? Do they just sit on hold for you or something? I tried calling the IRS last week and gave up after an hour.
0 coins
Connor Murphy
•Yeah right. No way they can get through faster than anyone else. The IRS phone system is designed to be impossible. This sounds like a scam to collect phone numbers.
0 coins
Zainab Khalil
•They use a system that continually redials and navigates the IRS phone menus until they reach a representative. Once they have an agent on the line, they connect the call to your phone number. So basically yes - they handle the hold time for you while you go about your day. They don't collect phone numbers for scams - they're actually a legitimate service that many tax professionals use. They can't make the IRS answer faster, but their system is persistent and knows the best times to call, which substantially increases your chances of getting through compared to calling yourself.
0 coins
Connor Murphy
I owe everybody here an apology. After calling BS on Claimyr, I decided to try it anyway out of desperation. I had been trying for TWO WEEKS to reach the IRS about my education credits question. I used the Claimyr service yesterday afternoon, and no joke - I got a call back in 27 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. The agent confirmed that for the AOTC, I should enter the number of years I've previously claimed the credit, not my academic standing. She also explained that expenses like my required software for classes counts as qualified education expenses. Never been so happy to be wrong about something. Saved me hours of frustration and potentially filing incorrectly.
0 coins
Yara Haddad
The IRS publication about this (Pub 970) actually explains it but in the most confusing way possible lol. For AOTC, you can claim it for only 4 tax years, AND you have to be in one of the first 4 years of your post-secondary education program. So if you took 5 years to complete a 4-year bachelor's program, you can only get AOTC for the first 4 years. For year 5, you'd need to switch to the Lifetime Learning Credit.
0 coins
Keisha Robinson
•I thought it was just 4 years total regardless of what "year" you're in academically? My advisor told me as long as you haven't claimed it 4 times already you can still get it.
0 coins
Yara Haddad
•Your advisor is partially right, but there's more to it. You can claim AOTC for up to 4 tax years, but there's also a requirement that you must be enrolled in one of the first 4 years of post-secondary education (what the IRS considers your freshman through senior years). If you're in what would academically be considered your 5th year or greater (like if you're working on a second bachelor's or have been in school longer than the typical 4-year program), you generally wouldn't qualify regardless of how many times you've claimed it before. The Lifetime Learning Credit doesn't have this restriction, which is why it's available for graduate students and lifelong learners.
0 coins
Paolo Conti
Quick tip for future reference: Keep good records of which years you claim each education credit! I've been audited before specifically about education credits and had to go back through 5 years of returns to prove my eligibility. I use a really simple spreadsheet now that tracks: 1. Which years I claimed AOTC 2. Which years I claimed Lifetime Learning 3. My qualified expenses for each year 4. Which 1098-T forms correspond to which tax year
0 coins
Amina Sow
•How do the 1098-T forms work with this? Mine always seems to have different amounts than what I actually paid because of timing of the payments vs when classes start.
0 coins