Has there ever been a year as hotly anticipated as 2021? And among all the new year’s resolutions to get back to living our best lives as soon as we can– travel, time with friends and family, in-person school– might I suggest some resolutions for families of college-bound children? I’ve divided them by age range to make it easy for…
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Tax Credits and Deductions
This post is from December, 2020. If you are looking for information on the stimulus payments from March 2021, please go here. With a new round of stimulus payments coming under the new stimulus deal, many families of college students are hearing that they should declare their college students independent so that they can claim the stimulus payments. That may…
The American Opportunity Tax Credit is usually the best tax benefit available to families. But it has some rules you should be aware of in order to make the most of it. The AOTC is worth up to $2,500 per year, per student, for four years. To claim it, the family must spend $4,000 on qualified expenses from a non-529…
The FAFSA now uses income from your tax return only. But “income” isn’t just your wages or your Adjusted Gross Income. It’s all the income on your tax return, whether you pay taxes on it or not. Good news: starting with the 2024-25 school year, the FAFSA no longer considers income that isn’t on your tax return, such as payroll…
Students whose parents are divorced have some planning opportunities if the exes are willing to cooperate. The first step is of course to understand the planning areas. And the first step of that first step is to understand a key definition: “custodial parent.” Custodial parent is used in two primary places for college purposes, and in ways that are completely…