A
Andrew
Situation: My son will be a first year student this
semester at College and will be, of course, listed as
dependent on my return. He paid his fees for college. Can
*I* (the parent) take the deduction (up to $3000 in t/y
2003) when I fill in my return for t/y 2004 next year?
JK Lasser 2004 Your Income Tax book states in section 38.13:
"...the rules at 38.7 for claiming the expenses of a
dependent also apply to the tuition and fees deduction."
Section 38.7 states under "Claiming credit for expenses paid
by your child or other dependent": "A dependent's expenses
are treated as the expenses of the taxpayer claiming an
exemption for the dependent. For example, if your child is
an eligible student and pays qualified expenses, and you
claim an exemption for your child as a dependent on your tax
return, only you can claim a credit for his or her expenses.
Because you claim the child as your dependent, his or her
payment of qualifying expenses is treated as your payment."
So I read this as YES, the parent can claim the credit.
But IRS Publication 970 in Chapter 6 (page 31 in 2004's "Tax
Benefits for Education") states no, no one can take the
credit under those circumstances. There is a chart that
states:
"If your dependent is an eligible student and you claim an
exemption for your dependent, AND your dependent paid all
the qualifying education expenses, then NO ONE is allowed to
take a deduction."
Am I missing something obvious, or if not, who is right? I
would think Lasser is wrong, but how could they be this
inaccurate?
semester at College and will be, of course, listed as
dependent on my return. He paid his fees for college. Can
*I* (the parent) take the deduction (up to $3000 in t/y
2003) when I fill in my return for t/y 2004 next year?
JK Lasser 2004 Your Income Tax book states in section 38.13:
"...the rules at 38.7 for claiming the expenses of a
dependent also apply to the tuition and fees deduction."
Section 38.7 states under "Claiming credit for expenses paid
by your child or other dependent": "A dependent's expenses
are treated as the expenses of the taxpayer claiming an
exemption for the dependent. For example, if your child is
an eligible student and pays qualified expenses, and you
claim an exemption for your child as a dependent on your tax
return, only you can claim a credit for his or her expenses.
Because you claim the child as your dependent, his or her
payment of qualifying expenses is treated as your payment."
So I read this as YES, the parent can claim the credit.
But IRS Publication 970 in Chapter 6 (page 31 in 2004's "Tax
Benefits for Education") states no, no one can take the
credit under those circumstances. There is a chart that
states:
"If your dependent is an eligible student and you claim an
exemption for your dependent, AND your dependent paid all
the qualifying education expenses, then NO ONE is allowed to
take a deduction."
Am I missing something obvious, or if not, who is right? I
would think Lasser is wrong, but how could they be this
inaccurate?