Is light potential energy or kinetic energy?

Potential energy.

Thank you, Veruska. Can you please explain why light energy is potential?

Both kinetic and potential energy are relative energies. A bullet, for example, has a certain kinetic energy just after it has been fired from a gun, but if you were travelling in a jet just next to it at its speed then, there would be zero kinetic energy relative to you.

Electromagnetic energy - including light - is comprised of particles of energy: it is the 'real stuff': just energy. There are some relative effects even with light, but they are only obvious when you get to speeds near to the speed of light itself.

all photons have Energy based on E = h*f

and they all have momentum from p = h/L

where L is lamda the wavelength

So the photons of light have E and therefore momentum since kinetic energy is moving energy that would mean its KINETIC.

When a photon hits an electron it transfers its KINETIC energy to the electron

Potential energy is relative to something generally its taken to be 0 at infinity.

but we often set it to 0 at other points like the surface of the earth when doing gravitational problems

I would then say light is KINETIC energy and that it will give up this energy to another object like a bullet hitting a block

It is my understanding that it is originally kinetic energy until being received by an object, upon which it is transferred into electromagnetic energy.