Specific tax question

Okay, my son is over 24 and single living at home. I am not claiming him as a dependent. His only source of income is the Post 911 GI Bill. This money goes directly from the government to his bank account and is not taxable income to be claimed as income or to be taxed on. He or myself do not pay the school any additional money for his education - Uncle Sam covers all of it.

Some tax advice sites say he can however claim "American Opportunity Credit" needing only the Form 1098-T from his school proving his attendance. Other sites say he can't. Most sites assume I am claiming him as a dependent and I can take the credit, or that he has a job with income.

Again my son is:

1. single with no dependents
2. sole source of income is GI Bill money (about a grand a month) which cannot be claimed as income
3. sites say there is a 2000 dollar or so "American Opportunity Credit" of which 40 percent (or 1,000 dollars) he is eligible for.

If anyone is in this situation or knows the facts, please let me know. Thanks

Jim Ammons said:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1098et.pdf

Click to expand...

Thanks but the 1098-T is what his school fills out to send to him. Anyway I did research and my son takes the info from the 1098-T and puts it on the Form 8863 and uses that data to complete a Form 1040A. Basically if the total tuition cost is less than what the VA paid for his education he gets a percentage of that as a credit/refund - or something like that. All he needs now is the 1089-T from his school (or the VA) and he can input the data.