Can I manually change the unused federal tuition amount that is automatically applied by the TurboTax software?

[ph6]

My nephew has ~$10,000 in unused federal tuition and education amount carried over from 2015. He started working full time in 2016. Without using the tuition carry over, he already has a $300 tax return (as his income was less than $20,000 in 2016). However, the TurboTax software is automatically applying ~$5,000 this year and carrying over the rest. Is there a way I can manually change this so that I can carry over the full $10,000 amount to apply in future years when his income is higher?

[TurboTaxHarp · Accepted solution]

You cannot pick and choose whether or not to claim unused tuition amounts or the year you want to apply them to. They must be used in the first available year that you have income and to to the extent to reduce your taxes to zero.   If there is still a portion to carry forward it will be applied to the next year where you have income etc.