AOC

[Patrick Michael]

How do handle it when you get new clients with dependents (or themselves) who have been going to college for more than 4 years and have no idea if they have taken the AOC (or Hope) in past years?

Will the return reject if you take the AOC and it has been taken for the 4 years?

 

[Lee B]

I would insist on copies of the prior years tax returns or take the LLC.

[BrewOne]

I agree with Lee.  Another requirement is that they were still undergraduates at the start of 2023, so that is easy to check.

And on a broader note, I wouldn't take a new client without seeing their last return.

[Patrick Michael]

This client ( I have done their taxes for the last 3 years) is in their late 20's.  Went to community college for 4 years and never earned enough credits to get a degree.  Was a dependent on his parents returns for those four years and parents don't have copies of the old returns and have no interest in getting transcripts.  I hate to have him lose out if he is still eligible.  

[BrewOne]

sorry to hear.  So there is no way for you to know if there is any remaining eligibility, but you don't want to claim the AOC and down the road have the client informed by the IRS that they weren't eligible. 

One possible is if one of those years they were not at least a half-time student for one semester.  In that case, the AOC should not have been claimed for that year.

[kathyc2]

Many years ago I had a similar situation.  The student at the time was not on speaking terms with the parent who had been claiming her, so no go on seeing if parent claimed.  

Called the IRS to see if they could tell if she had used up her 4 years or not.  Agent said they do not track the years by the student SSN but rather the SSN of return claiming it.  Make of this what you will.