Hope Scholarship vs. LLC

I'm filling out my 2007 taxes, which actually means putting the info into
TaxCut. I have one college freshman for the 2007-2008 school year. The
software keeps trying to push me to take the Lifetime Learning Credit
instead of the Hope Scholarship. I had in mind to take the Hope the first
two years, then the LLC the third and fourth year. When I was researching
this, I took a ton of notes, but of course now I can't find the file
containing them (although I'll keep looking).

Since expenses were high enough so that the tax software is pushing the LLC,
is there a reason I shouldn't take it for 2007? Maybe my logic was faulty,
and the expenses were such that the LLC gives a better credit than the Hope.
It's just that it wasn't what I expected, and now I can't recreate the ideas
that were leading that way.

Thanks for your thoughts.

The Hope Scholarship is up to $1,650 per student for the first two
years, (100% of the first $1,100, 50% of the next $1,100 of qualified
expenses).

The Lifetime Learning has no time limit and is up to $2,000 per family
(20% of the first $10,000).

You got a 1098-T from the college, showing amounts billed/paid and
amounts of gift aid. The difference between them is what you use for
either credit.

If that difference is greater than $2,200 then the lifetime credit is
better, and you (or Taxcut) are free to pick the one that works best for
you.

People with multiple students can mix and match so long as each credit
is not taken more than once for the same student that year.


Steven B. Blank
College Financial Aid Consultants
29 Ives Hill Court
Cheshire, CT 06410
(203)250-7761


On 3/2/2008 6:18 AM, TheBreeze wrote:
> I'm filling out my 2007 taxes, which actually means putting the info into
> TaxCut. I have one college freshman for the 2007-2008 school year. The
> software keeps trying to push me to take the Lifetime Learning Credit
> instead of the Hope Scholarship. I had in mind to take the Hope the first
> two years, then the LLC the third and fourth year. When I was researching
> this, I took a ton of notes, but of course now I can't find the file
> containing them (although I'll keep looking).
>
> Since expenses were high enough so that the tax software is pushing the LLC,
> is there a reason I shouldn't take it for 2007? Maybe my logic was faulty,
> and the expenses were such that the LLC gives a better credit than the Hope.
> It's just that it wasn't what I expected, and now I can't recreate the ideas
> that were leading that way.
>
> Thanks for your thoughts.
>
>