New Info re: Expanded Hope Credit

Posted by on August 17, 2009

[This information comes directly from the IRS.]

American Opportunity Tax Credit – Expanded Hope Credit
For tax years 2009 and 2010, the following changes have been made to the Hope credit. The modified credit is also referred to as the American opportunity tax credit.

•    The maximum amount of the Hope credit increases to $2,500 per student. The credit is phased out (gradually reduced) if your modified AGI is between $80,000 and $90,000 ($160,000 and $180,000 if you file a joint return). Exception. For 2009, if you claim a Hope credit for a student who attended a school in a Midwestern disaster area, you can choose to figure the amount of the credit using the previous rules. However, you must use the previous rules in figuring the credit for all students for which you claim the credit.

•    The Hope credit can now be claimed for the first four years of post-secondary education. Previously the credit could be claimed for only the first two years of post-secondary education.

•    Generally, 40% of the Hope credit is now a refundable credit, which means that you can receive up to $1,000 even if you owe no taxes. However, none of the credit is refundable if the taxpayer claiming the credit is a child (a) who is under age 18 (or a student who is at least age 18 and under age 24 and whose earned income does not exceed one-half of his or her own support), (b) who has at least one living parent, and (c) who does not file a joint return.

•    The term “qualified tuition and related expenses” has been expanded to include expenditures for “course materials.” For this purpose, the term “course materials” means books, supplies, and equipment needed for a course of study whether or not the materials are purchased from the educational institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance.

Expanded Definition of Qualified Expenses for Qualified Tuition Programs (QTP) – (College Savings Plan also known as a “529 plan”)

The definition of qualified higher education expenses for tax-free distributions from a qualified tuition program is expanded to include amounts paid in 2009 or 2010 for the purchase of computer software, any computer or related peripheral equipment, fiber optic cable related to computer use, and Internet access (including related services) that are to be used by the beneficiary and the beneficiary’s family during any of the years the beneficiary is enrolled at an eligible educational institution. Caution: There are some restrictions on qualifying software.