Can I claim American Opportunity Credit if my parents claimed it while I was a dependent?

The American Opportunity Credit (AOC) can be claimed for only 4 tax years per eligible student. If your parents already claimed it for you for 4 years (2018-2021 as you mentioned), you wouldn't be eligible to claim it again - regardless of dependency status. However, if they haven't used all 4 years of eligibility yet, and you're no longer a dependent on their return, then yes - you could potentially claim it yourself. The American Hope Credit was essentially replaced by the AOC in 2009, so they were most likely claiming the American Opportunity Credit. To determine if you qualify as independent for tax purposes, check if anyone can claim you as a dependent. The main tests for this would be whether you provided more than half of your own financial support for the year and whether your gross income is above the threshold amount. Since you're working full-time and supporting yourself aside from housing, you'll need to calculate if the free housing constitutes more than half of your total support for the year.

After struggling with almost the exact same question last year, I found a tool that saved me so much stress. Check out https://taxr.ai - it analyzes your education documents and tells you exactly which education credits you qualify for based on your specific situation. I was confused about whether I could claim remaining years of American Opportunity Credit after my parents had claimed some, and this tool cleared everything up immediately. You just upload your 1098-T and answer a few questions about previous claims, and it gives you a detailed breakdown of your eligibility. Saved me from potentially making a huge mistake!

I was super skeptical about using taxr.ai when someone recommended it to me (I'm the same way about putting any tax info online), but I was desperate after getting conflicting advice about my education credits. Ended up trying it and wow - it identified that I still had 1 year of AOC eligibility left that even my parents' accountant missed! The breakdown it gave me showed exactly why I was still eligible and how to document it properly on my return. Saved me over $1,000 in tax credits I almost missed out on. The peace of mind alone was worth it, knowing I wasn't accidentally claiming something I shouldn't.

If you're having trouble getting clear answers about your American Opportunity Credit eligibility, you might consider using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to actually speak with an IRS agent. I had a similar situation last year where I wasn't sure if I could claim education credits after my parents had claimed some. After trying for DAYS to get through the IRS phone lines myself, I used Claimyr and had a callback from an actual IRS agent within an hour. They confirmed exactly how many years of the credit had been claimed for my SSN and whether I was eligible to claim it myself. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Seriously, it was the only way I could get an official answer directly from the IRS instead of guessing or relying on secondhand info.

I need to eat my words! After posting that skeptical comment, I was still desperate to figure out if I could claim my remaining education credits, so I reluctantly tried Claimyr. Within 45 minutes, I was literally talking to an IRS agent who pulled up my record and confirmed I had only had the American Opportunity Credit claimed for me for 3 years, meaning I had 1 year of eligibility left! The agent even explained exactly how to document this on my return so it wouldn't get flagged for review. Saved me hours of waiting on hold and possibly filing incorrectly. I've never gotten such clear, definitive information about my tax situation before.

To directly answer your question - the American Opportunity Credit has a lifetime limit of 4 years per student. It doesn't matter who claims it (you or your parents), what matters is that it can only be claimed 4 times total for each eligible student. You need to find out exactly how many years your parents claimed it for you. If they claimed it all 4 years already, then you can't claim it again, even if you're now independent. But if they only claimed it for 3 years or less, you could potentially claim it for your remaining eligible year(s), assuming you meet all other requirements. The Lifetime Learning Credit might be an alternative option if you're no longer eligible for the AOC.

just fyi, the whole "am i dependent or not" question is different from whether u can claim the credit. if ur parents provided more than half ur support (including housing!!) for the yr then ur still a dependent regardless of if ur working full-time a lot of ppl miss this. the rules r kinda complicated but basically u need to add up ALL support (housing, food, tuition, insurance, etc) and if u paid for more than 50% urself, then ur independent. if not, then ur folks can still claim u as a dependent.