Can I claim American Opportunity Tax Credit for masters degree after foreign undergrad?

The American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) has some specific requirements that might affect your situation. First, the AOTC is generally only available for the first four years of post-secondary education - what we call undergraduate education. Master's degrees are considered beyond those first four years, so typically wouldn't qualify regardless of where you did your undergrad. For your second question, you couldn't claim the AOTC for your Canadian undergrad expenses on a US tax return if you weren't a US resident at that time. You must be a US citizen, resident alien, or have filed a joint return with a US citizen/resident to claim the credit. You might want to look into the Lifetime Learning Credit instead, which doesn't have the "first four years" limitation. It's worth up to $2,000 per tax return and applies to graduate courses. The Lifetime Learning Credit would be more appropriate for your master's degree expenses.

After being super confused about education credits when I started my PhD program, I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that helped me figure everything out! I uploaded my university transcript and tuition statements, and it analyzed everything automatically to tell me which education credits I could claim. It specifically addressed my question about the AOTC vs Lifetime Learning Credit and which expenses qualified. I was trying to determine if my stipend counted as income and how that affected my education credits. The tool gave me a clear breakdown that I could show my tax preparer, which saved me a ton of stress and probably money too!

Just wanted to update everyone - I tried taxr.ai after seeing the recommendation here and it was seriously helpful! I uploaded my Singapore transcript and US master's program info, and it immediately clarified that I wasn't eligible for the AOTC but could claim the Lifetime Learning Credit instead. It even pointed out that some of my course materials weren't eligible but my required software purchases were! The analysis saved me from making a mistake on my return that might have triggered an audit. Definitely worth checking out if you have education credits questions with international complications like I did.

If you're still trying to get clarity, I'd recommend calling the IRS directly. I was in a similar situation with education credits last year and spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone who could answer my specific questions. It was impossible to get a human on the phone! Then I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me through to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I had been trying for days. They have this system that navigates all the phone menus and waits on hold for you, then calls you when an actual IRS agent is on the line. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with gave me definitive answers about my education credits situation. Totally worth it for the peace of mind knowing my tax return was done correctly.

Ok I have to eat my words here. After my skeptical comment I decided to try Claimyr because I was at my wit's end trying to reach the IRS. I'd been calling for WEEKS about my education credits situation with no luck. I used the service yesterday afternoon and got a call back in about 45 minutes with an actual IRS representative on the line! They answered my specific questions about the Lifetime Learning Credit vs AOTC for my situation (I did undergrad in the UK, now doing master's in US). The agent confirmed that I should use the Lifetime Learning Credit and explained exactly which expenses qualified. Honestly worth it just to not spend hours listening to that awful hold music.

Just to add another perspective - I went through this exact situation. Did my undergrad in Brazil, then came to US for masters. My tax preparer told me that since the AOTC is for the "first 4 years of postsecondary education" regardless of where you did them, I couldn't claim it for my masters. But I was able to claim the Lifetime Learning Credit! It's a smaller credit (20% of up to $10,000 in qualified expenses, so max $2,000) but it helped offset some of my tuition costs. And unlike the AOTC, there's no limit on how many years you can claim it.

Has anyone found a good tax software that handles this situation well? I tried using [popular tax software] and it kept pushing me toward claiming AOTC even though I know I'm not eligible because I completed my undergrad in Germany before moving to the US for my master's.