Brian McFarren

College education is becoming increasingly more expensive; and, a college degree is valued in the workforce. The Pell Grant and other scholarships are used by millions of students to help ease the cost of attendance. The interaction between these scholarships and the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), can be complex, and can lead to leaving eligible tax credit money unclaimed.

Pell Grant Allocation
A Pell Gant (or many other scholarships) may be applied to:
1. Tuition, fees, and course related materials, or
2. Living expenses.

When the Pell Grant is applied towards living expenses, the scholarship is taxable. However, in many situations, students would benefit by including their Pell Grant (or other scholarships) in taxable income (or towards living expenses) so that they have more expenses eligible for the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

Many students and parents are unaware that they have a choice in how this grant (or other scholarships) is allocated.

For more information and examples in regards to this topic, please visit the referenced article. For help calculating and maximizing your benefits, please contact Brian McFarren at bmcfarren@brickleydelong.com of (231) 726-5815.

In June 2014, the IRS Commissioner and the IRS National Taxpayer advocate announced the release of an IRS “Taxpayer Bill of Rights” to better communicate existing taxpayers’ statutory and administrative protections.

To increase awareness of this bill of rights, the IRS has produced a publication to accompany its correspondence. This has been posted in public areas of the IRS buildings, communicated directly to IRS employees, and posted on the IRS website.

The 10 rights are:

• The right to be informed;
• The right to receive quality service;
• The right to pay no more than the correct amount of tax;
• The right to challenge the IRS’s position and be heard;
• The right to appeal an IRS decision in an independent forum;
• The right to finality (e.g. to know the maximum time for challenging an IRS position, for being audited, or when an audit is finished);
• The right to privacy (e.g. IRS compliance with laws and respect for due process in inquiries, examinations, enforcements, etc.);
• The right to confidentiality of information provided to the IRS;
• The right to retain representation; and
• The right to a fair and just tax system.

These rights are not new to the IRS, but are being published so taxpayers better understand what their personal rights are.

For more information on this topic, please read this article or contact Brian McFarren at (231) 726-5815 or bmcfarren@brickleydelong.com

Author: Brian McFarren