Hope Credit

My son completed 2 years of college. His first semester expenses were in the fall of 2003, and I assumed his father used the hope credit to claim those expenses. In 2004 I claimed my son and used his spring 2004 and fall 2004 expenses to claim the hope credit. I just received a 1098T which covers his expenses from the spring 2005 semester. The tax law says that the hope credit can only be taken for the first 2 years of education after high school, and even though the hope credit has been taken twice, the expenses for which I received the 1098T are still for his second year of college. Can I use the hope credit for this? He has not been a student in the 2005-2006 school year, so these expenses are definitely for his spring semester of his second year.

Thanks for the help.

Sandy

No. The Hope Credit can only be used twice per student, period.

You may use the Lifetime Credit or the Tuition and Fees deduction.

Snipes

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I thought about my situation a little more and remembered that the first year my son was in college and my ex-husband claimed him, he earned too much money to take any kind of credit or deduction for Michael's tuition expenses, so last year when i took the Hope Credit for Michael was the first year it had been used.

So, according to what you are saying, I can use it this year since it would only be the second year it is being taken, right?

Thanks,
Sandy

Yes, that is correct.