The IRS offers guidance on those aspects of the TRA related to education tax benefits in IRS Notice No. However, a parent may claim the Lifetime Learning Credit for a taxable year for one student and claim a Hope tax credit during the same year for another student. If the taxpayer does not owe any taxes, the Lifetime Learning tax credit is not available.
Taxpayers can receive the tax credit throughout their undergraduate and graduate course of study.
The credit encourages individuals to improve their job skills. No specific grade point average requirement is required to qualify for the tax credit. The credit is only allowed if the student is claimed by his or her parents or other taxpayer as a dependent during the tax year that the credit is claimed. If the parents claim the student and take the Lifetime Learning or Hope tax credits, the student is not eligible for either tax credit. To account for inflation, a cost of living adjustment occurs beginning in the 2002 tax year for the maximum income ranges.