Tax Refund in your favor - collect $2000

I feel like I just landed on Free Parking. Notice to students/parents of students! If your child graduated or left school in 2005, you may miss out on taking the Lifetime Learning Credit if you don't pay attention!!

DH and I were doing our taxes, and one of the questions that TurboTax asks is "did you pay tuition or fees in 2005?" Naturally, I answered yes, since I paid tuition and fees for the Spring 2005 semester at Georgetown. I then realized that I didn't receive a 1098T (or whatever the form was). When I went back and looked through my records I noticed that the forms I did receive in 2004 and 2003 were for full year tuition amounts. ($26k and $27k respectively)

Georgetown's forms went by when they billed me (which for Spring Semester 2005 was in December 2004) rather than when I paid (which was in Jan 2005). I called the IRS, twice, to make sure that because I paid my bill in Jan 2005 (and my student loans were applied in Jan 2005) that I could take credit for the ~14k in tuition and fees that I paid and therefore qualify for the full Lifetime Learning Credit.

So what's the bottom line on this whole rigamarole? Only about $2000 extra in our tax refund. That's my new leather couch! That's my vacation!

That's huge, as far as I am concerned. So watch those tuition expenses and claim them in the year you paid - not the year they were billed (unless that works better for you)

Disclaimer: I am not a tax accountant, IRS employee, or other tax professional. Every situation is different, and you should check with a qualified tax professional before making any tax related decisions. Don't sue me if you get audited!