Bursar
Tax Credit Winners & Losers
Generally, the benefits of the tax credit provisions of the legislation will accrue to middle- and lower-middle-income students and their families who:
- do not receive enough gift aid to cover their tuition/fees
- do not have modified adjusted gross income higher than the caps
- do have sufficient income to have tax liability at least as large as the credit (for the full Hope Credit, minimally about $16K for single filers and $21K for joint filers; for the Lifetime Learning Credit, the level of modified adjusted gross income can be lower as the credit is less) and who file
- provide the school with the Taxpayer Identification Number of a tax filer eligible to be the beneficiary of their credits.
Students or their families will not benefit from the new tax credits if they:
- receive gift aid in amounts equivalent to or greater than their qualifying fees/tuition
- have modified adjusted gross incomes that exceed the caps
- have incomes so low that they do not have federal tax liability equivalent to or greater than the credit available (the credits are not refundable)
- have a felony conviction for possession or distribution of controlled substances
- fail to provide the institution with the Taxpayer Identification Number or a person eligible to be the beneficiary of their tax credit.
Tax credits will be able to be claimed for calendar year 1998.
To be eligible, students must provide:
- name, address, and taxpayer identification number (Social Security Number) of the student
- name, address, and taxpayer identification number of the taxpayer who will claim the dependent.