Maximizing my tax return as a college student - tips needed for 2025 filing

As a college student, you've got several options to maximize your return. Let's break this down: First, the dependent question - if you provide more than half of your own support (which it sounds like you do at 60%), you should file as independent. This opens up more tax benefits for YOU rather than your parents. For education benefits, look into the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) - it's worth up to $2,500 per eligible student, and 40% of it is refundable even if you don't owe taxes. Your textbooks would qualify under the AOTC. The laptop might qualify if it was required for enrollment or coursework. For your DoorDash income - that's self-employment income. You should track all your mileage (the IRS rate was around 65.5 cents per mile for 2024) and deduct phone costs, hot bags, and other delivery-related expenses. This helps offset the self-employment tax you'll owe. Look into the Lifetime Learning Credit too if you've used up your 4 years of AOTC eligibility, though it's less generous.

I was in a similar situation last year and discovered this tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that literally saved me hundreds on my return. I was trying to figure out all these education credits and deductions by myself and getting nowhere. What's cool is you can upload your tuition statements, 1098-Ts, and even receipts from your textbooks and school supplies, and it tells you exactly what's deductible. It found all these education credits I had no idea about, especially with my side gig (I did Instacart, which sounds similar to your DoorDash situation). The self-employment deductions were a game changer - it automatically calculated my mileage deduction and told me what percentage of my phone bill I could write off. Way more thorough than the free tax software I was using before.

I was really skeptical about taxr.ai at first, but I gave it a shot with my complicated PhD fellowship situation. It was honestly life changing for my tax situation! The tool correctly identified that part of my fellowship covering tuition and research expenses wasn't taxable, while my stipend portion was. Every tax preparer I talked to before was giving me different answers, but taxr.ai broke it down clearly with references to the specific IRS publications. Ended up saving me almost $1,200 compared to what I would have paid if I had reported everything as taxable income. The education credit breakdown was super detailed too - showed me exactly which expenses qualified and how to document everything properly. Definitely using it again this year!

If you're having trouble getting answers about your education credits, I'd recommend using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was totally stuck last year with similar questions about being claimed as a dependent while working part-time and having scholarships. I spent WEEKS trying to get through to the IRS directly - either constant busy signals or being on hold for hours just to be disconnected. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent I spoke with walked me through exactly how to determine if I qualified as independent and which education credits I could claim. Turns out I was eligible for a partial American Opportunity Credit even with my scholarships. That conversation literally got me an extra $1,400 on my refund that I would have missed otherwise.

I need to publicly eat my words. After posting that skeptical comment, I was desperate enough to try Claimyr anyway. Holy crap it actually works. I got a call back in about 40 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. I've been fighting with the IRS for 3 months trying to get my education credits sorted out (they rejected my American Opportunity Credit claim). The agent was able to look up my account, confirm I was eligible, and tell me exactly how to file an amended return. Apparently there was a flag on my account because my university had reported my scholarship information incorrectly. Would NEVER have figured this out without speaking to someone directly. Just got my amended return processed and received an additional $1,850 in my refund. Completely worth it.

Don't forget to check if your state has special tax credits for college students! My state has a special deduction for tuition and fees even if you claim the federal education credits. I missed this my first two years and ended up filing amendments to get back almost $700. Also, if you're independent and your income is low enough, look into the Earned Income Tax Credit. Being a student doesn't disqualify you, and it can be pretty substantial depending on your earned income.

Honestly the biggest mistake I made as a student was not separating my 1099 gig work expenses properly. For your DoorDash income, create a simple spreadsheet NOW before you file and track: - Total miles driven (this is huge) - Hot bags or delivery equipment - % of phone bill used for the app - Any insulated delivery bags - Car maintenance proportional to business use - Parking fees while doing deliveries I screwed this up my first year and probably overpaid by $800+ in self-employment taxes. If u have over $400 in profit from DoorDash, you'll owe SE tax (15.3%) on top of regular income tax.