Hi, I am on H1B visa and my wife is on H4. This is the first year that I am filing as a resident alien. Would the tuition we paid for my wife's post secondary education for the Winter 2010 Quarter be qualified for American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit?

The complication is that we made the payment for this tuition on 12/9/2009 right before the new year. (definitely not the smartest thing) However, we haven't applied this expense in our 2009 taxes since at that time we were under non-resident alien classification.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

You can claim it in 2010 if the Form 1098-T carried the tuition payment forward to 2010. Otherwise, no.

Hi,

Thank you very much for the answer. We couldn't get a 1098-T form from the school since my wife didn't have a SSN or an ITIN. We were going to apply for a SSN for her together with our tax return forms using form W7.

When we asked for our 1098 form from the school, they gave us the bills for the Winter, Summary, Spring and Fall quarters of 2010. They told that they couldn't get a form 1098 since she didn't have a SSN.

When I asked them what quantity they would have on the 1098 form if she had an ITIN, the school told me that they didn't have any idea since they were merely printing the form that IRS prepares and puts up in an online system.

I am thinking of getting an ITIN for her through another way. (By applying for a credit card and getting a letter from bank and visiting the local IRS office) And then give that ITIN to the school and ask for 1098-T for 2010. Would they be able to get the 1098-T form for us after that or is it too late to ask for it?

Best regards!

No, it is NOT too late to ask for the Form 1098-T. apply for the ITIN with the letter.