Jaqueline Garcia-Bravo v. Comm., Tax Court Docket No. 26566-22 (Jan. 17, 2024)
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Court Explains “Related Expenses” for American Opportunity Tax Credit (Jaqueline Garcia-Bravo v. Comm., Tax Court Docket No. 26566-22 (Jan. 17, 2024))
Jacqueline Garcia-Bravo claimed an AOTC of $2,500 for her and $2,500 for her dependent son.
Ms. Garcia-Bravo’s educational expenses were ineligible for credit because she has already claimed the credit for four prior tax years. Section 25A(b)(2)(C) provides that the AOTC is available only for the first four years of postsecondary education.
For her son, “qualified tuition and related expenses” included five expenses – books, two computers, an office chair, a laptop messenger bag, and an ink cartridge for a printer. The term “qualified tuition and related expenses” is defined by §25A(f)(1)(A) as “tuition and fees required for the enrollment or attendance … at an eligible educational institution for courses of instruction of such individual at such institution.” Of the five types of expenses, only the book expense was required to be paid to the college. Thus, only the book expense fell within the category of qualified tuition and related expenses for calculating the credit.