Form 8863 - Education Credits

I have a question about Form 8863 (Education Credits, https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8863.pdf). I'm dual US/UK citizen living in the UK. My son (also dual citizen) is a student at the University of Southampton. For the 2017 US tax year, I'd like to file an 8863 with my federal return to claim either the American Opportunity Credit (AOC) or the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC).  Note that the former is preferable due to the much greater tax credit.

The Uni has provided me with a certificate of fees paid in respect to the 2017 calendar year (1 Jan - 31 Dec 2017) but it does not issue a Form 1098-T and it does not have an employment identification number (EIN). The instructions for 8863 (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8863.pdf) states that:

"If a student’s educational institution isn't required to provide a Form 1098-T to the student, a taxpayer may claim one of these education benefits without a Form 1098-T if the taxpayer otherwise qualifies, can demonstrate that the taxpayer (or a dependent) was enrolled at an eligible educational institution, and can substantiate the payment of qualified tuition and related expenses."

Fine so far, I (or my son) qualifies, the Uni is an eligible educational institution, and the certificate of fees paid substantiates payment of tuition.

But the instructions also say, adjacent to a cautionary symbol:

"To claim the American opportunity credit, you must provide the educational institution’s employer identification number (EIN) on your Form 8863. You should be able to get this information from Form 1098-T or the educational institution."

The requirment for an EIN for the AOC is repeated in instructions (i.e. Table 1 on page 2, and student qualification #6 on page 3).

My problem is that the Uni does NOT have an EIN; I've double checked this.

Does anyone know if the AOC can be obtained in the absence of an EIN for the Uni?  Or am I only qualified for the LLC?

Just found this article last updated on 19 February 2018.
https://20somethingfinance.com/education-tax-credits-deductions/

It's an update in respect to the 2017 & 2018 tax years.  As for the AOC, it says that:

"New this year: To claim the American opportunity credit, you must provide the educational institution’s employer identification number (EIN) on your Form 8863."

Taking that as read, it suggests that the requirement for an EIN is new to 2017.  That may be correct because, looking at the 8633 for 2016 (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/f8863--2016.pdf), you were then instructed to skip Box 4 asking for the EIN of the institution if no 1098-T was received.  No such luck on the 2017 version of the form.

Opinions of others welcome!

We went looking for an EIN for the Daughter's uni. They said they didn't have one. Turns out she can't do the "big credit" credit anyway, as it's only for your first 4 years. But there's still some money in the Lifetime Credit. Which does not need the EIN.

Hope you sort it out! (And post here what you did!)

Interesting situation as EIN usually refers to US Employers but the 8863 instructions clearly state that overseas institutions can be registered with the DOE to participate in their student aid programs.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8863.pdf

An eligible educational institution is generally any accredited
public, nonprofit, or proprietary (private) college, university,
vocational school, or other postsecondary institution. Also, the
institution must be eligible to participate in a student aid program
administered by the Department of Education. Virtually all
accredited postsecondary institutions meet this definition.
An eligible educational institution also includes certain
educational institutions located outside the United States that
are eligible to participate in a student aid program administered
by the Department of Education.

Interesting situation as EIN usually refers to US Employers but the 8863 instructions clearly state that overseas institutions can be registered with the DOE to participate in their student aid programs.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8863.pdf

Yes, and the IRS refers to a list of eligible educational instutitions at the link below.  It includes 200+ univerisites (or other higher education institutions) in England, Wales, Scotland, and NI.

I think UK universities are missing the boat if they don't have an EIN; it doesn't cost anything to obtain as far as I know.  And any US citizen sending their kid to a UK uni would obviously prefer to claim the AOL rather than just the LLC.

I have received a "Certificate of Fees Paid" from Southampton (and Bristol for another of my kids), even though tuition was paid via Student Finance England; the document will come in handy if the IRS asks me to confirm fees paid.  So long as a loan must be repaid (as does an SFE loan), it is eligible for the educational credit with the IRS.  It's the lack of EINs from both uni's that appears to be preventing me from claiming the AOL.  Grrrrr!

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/earned-income-tax-credit/eligible-educational-inst

Yeah, we had the same problem! If you ever sort it out (we couldn't) my Daughter would file a 1040X and claim! Good luck!

I've researched matters further and I keep coming to the conclusion that, for the 2017 US tax year, the educational institution must have an EIN for one to claim the AOC (aka AOTC). And while most UK universities are regarded as eligible educational institutions by the US Department of Education, as a general rule UK universities don't have EINs.  (Although there are a small number of exceptions; e.g. Cambridge colleges Emmanuel, Darwin, and Downing; Open University and possibly Edinburgh).

The requirement for an EIN appears to be to help minimise fraudulent claims for the AOL. That's understandable, but as is often the case it complicates life for US citizens living abroad.

My plan at the moment is to wait until the beginning of June to recheck a number of sources. Unless matters change, then I will file my 2017 return by 15 June just claiming the LLC.  Ho-hum.