Families with two students in college can give up one of the students as a tax exemption in order to claim two Lifetime Learning tax credits.

A strategy to consider for families with two students in college at the same time is to give up one of the students as a tax exemption. This student can then claim the Lifetime Learning tax credit for the expenses on his/her tax return, provided the student’s Modified Adjusted Gross Income is not above the phase out limits. In addition, the other student’s qualified expenses could be used to claim the Lifetime Learning tax credit on the parents’ tax return, provided the parents’ Modified Adjusted Gross Income is not above the phase-out limits. The overall result of this strategy would be that two Lifetime Learning tax credits, instead of only one credit, could be claimed by this family on the two separate taxpayer returns.