Colorado Technical University

I have claimed the Hope Credit for 2003 and 2004..I have not finished my postsecondary education.?

I am currently in a sophmore status, attending school full-time. My question is can I claim the Hope Credit for the expenses I have paid for tution and books for 2006?

Public Comments

1. Hope Credit is only available during your first two years in college. Therefore, if you claimed the Hope Credit for 2003 and 2004, you can no longer claim the Hope Credit. You would need to claim the Lifetime Learning Credit.
2. No, you'd claim the Lifetime Learning Credit. And that, as well as the Hope credit, is mainly for tuition and fees - books are only included if you are required to buy them from the school as a condition of attending or enrolling for the class. Buying them from the school bookstore doesn't count. Read the section in IRS Publication 17 on Education Credits (Chapter 35).