A Guide to Educational Tax Credits and Deductions

Several tax breaks can help you cover the cost of education.

College is expensive, but several valuable tax breaks can help ease the pain. You may be able to cut your tax bill by up to $2,500 if you’re paying college tuition, and you may even get tax credits to help cover the cost of continuing education classes to improve your job skills. Interest you pay on student loans may be tax-deductible, and you can use tax-advantaged savings to pay for a computer or private school, in addition to college costs. Here’s how families can make the most of these tax breaks to stretch their savings.

American Opportunity Credit for College Costs

The American opportunity credit can cut your tax liability by up to $2,500 if you’re paying for the first four years of higher education for yourself, your spouse or a dependent you claim on your tax return. To qualify for this credit, the student must be enrolled at least half time and pursuing a degree or other recognized educational credential at a college, university, vocational school or other eligible postsecondary educational institution.

To claim the full credit, your modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI, must be $80,000 or less if single or filing as head of household or $160,000 or less for married couples filing jointly. You can claim a partial credit if your MAGI is over $80,000 but less than $90,000 if filing as single or as head of household or over $160,000 but less than $180,000 if married filing jointly. The credit is calculated as 100% of the first $2,000 of qualifying expenses, plus 25% of the next $2,000 – making the maximum credit $2,500 per student.

Eligible expenses include tuition and course materials, which includes books, supplies and equipment needed for a course of study (they don’t have to be purchased from the institution) as well as student fees paid to the university if required as a condition of enrollment, says Jane Rubin, a CPA in St. Louis and member of the American Institute of CPAs Financial Literacy Commission.

You’ll usually receive Form 1098-T from the college reporting the qualified expenses paid. To claim the credit, use IRS Form 8863. For more information, see IRS Publication 970 Tax Benefits for Education.

Lifetime Learning Credit for Grad School and Continuing Education

If you’re going to grad school or taking any continuing education classes – even if you aren’t working toward a degree – you may be eligible for the lifetime learning credit. This credit is worth 20% of up to $10,000 in eligible expenses, with a maximum credit of $2,000 per tax return.

“Having multiple individuals in college does not get you additional credits,” says Tracie Miller-Nobles, CPA, consumer financial education advocate for the American Institute of CPAs and a professor at Austin Community College. Eligible expenses include tuition and fees that are required for attendance for yourself, your spouse or a dependent you claim on your tax return.

To qualify for the full credit in 2021, your MAGI must be less than $59,000 if single or head of household or $118,000 for joint filers. You can claim a partial credit if your MAGI is between $59,000 and $69,000 if filing as single or head of household or $118,000 to $138,000 for married filing jointly. There’s no limit to the number of years that you can claim the lifetime learning credit.

You can take the lifetime learning credit for graduate school or undergraduate expenses, and you don’t have to be enrolled at least half time. You can also claim the credit for continuing education, certificate programs or separate classes you take to acquire or improve job skills. This credit is available for an unlimited number of tax years.

“You don’t have to be working toward a degree,” says Rubin. The key is that the class must be offered by an eligible educational institution, including any college, university, vocational school or other post-secondary educational institution eligible to participate in a federal student aid program run by the U.S. Department of Education.

This credit can be valuable for people who lost their jobs in the past year and took classes to improve their job prospects. “Courses to acquire new skills may be especially relevant right now,” says Melody Thornton, a CPA in San Diego, California.

You’ll usually receive Form 1098-T from the eligible institution reporting the qualified expenses paid. To claim the credit, complete Form 8863.

Deduction for Student Loan Interest

If you’re paying back student loans, you may be able to deduct up to $2,500 in student loan interest. “The interest deduction goes to the person legally obligated to pay the interest,” says Tim Todd, CPA, and member of the American Institute of CPAs financial literacy commission.

“So if a parent takes out the loan for their child and the parent makes the interest payments, the parent gets the deduction. However, if a student takes out the loan and the parent pays the interest, it is treated as though the parent transferred the money to the student who then makes the payment.” The student can’t get the break, however, if they’re claimed as a dependent by the parents.

To qualify for the deduction in 2021, your MAGI must be less than $85,000 if single or head of household, or $170,000 if married filing jointly. The size of the deduction starts to phase out if your MAGI is more than $70,000 if single or head of household, or $140,000 if married filing jointly. You don’t have to itemize to claim the student loan interest deduction.

Maximizing 529 Tax Breaks for Education at All Ages

You can withdraw money tax-free from a 529 savings plan for college tuition, fees and equipment such as a computer or printer. You can also withdraw money tax-free for room and board if you’re enrolled at least half time, even if you don’t live on campus. Eligible expenses for off-campus housing are generally limited to the room and board costs that the college reports for financial aid purposes; look for the number on the financial aid page or ask the aid office.

“For example, if the room and board cost reported by the school is $15,000 but it costs $30,000 for the student living off campus, then only $15,000 is a valid 529 expense,” says Thornton. You can also withdraw money tax-free for a computer, whether you attend school on campus or virtually. The cost of computer programs the student uses for school is also an eligible expense. “As long as the student is using it for 529-related coursework, then you can use the 529 for those expenses,” says Mary Morris, CEO of Virginia529.

There’s no age limit for using the money, and you don’t need to be working toward a degree. “One of the really important things we see are adults going back to school – maybe they lost their job and are taking classes or a certificate program that puts them on a road to a new career,” says Morris.

You can withdraw money tax-free from a 529 for those expenses, as long as you’re taking the classes from an eligible educational institution. You’ll get the biggest tax benefits if you can keep the money growing in the tax-advantaged account for years. But if you don’t already have a 529, it may still be worthwhile to open an account and make the most of any tax break for contributions, even if you plan to use the money soon for education expenses.

Also, you can now withdraw up to $10,000 per year per beneficiary tax-free to pay tuition for kindergarten through 12th grade from a 529, a provision that was added in 2018.

If your child doesn’t use the money for educational expenses, you can switch the beneficiary to another eligible family member. If you take withdrawals that aren’t for eligible education expenses, the earnings are taxable and subject to a 10% penalty, although the penalty is waived in some circumstances.

“If a child receives a scholarship, a distribution for up to the amount of the scholarship can be made without being subject to the 10% penalty,” says Miller-Nobles. “The taxpayer must, though, still pay tax on the earnings of this distribution.” Even if your child qualifies for a scholarship, you may still have other eligible expenses that qualify for tax-free withdrawals, such as room and board, fees, books or a computer.

See Savingforcollege.com for details about each state’s plans and the College Savings Plans Network for links to each state program’s website.

Coordinating Tax Credits for Education With Tax-Free 529 Withdrawals

You can qualify for the American opportunity credit or lifetime learning credit and take tax-free 529 withdrawals in the same year, but you need to be careful. “You can’t use the 529 distribution for the same expenses,” says Todd. “In short, you can’t ‘double dip.'”

For example, if you claim the full American opportunity credit, then the $4,000 in tuition and fees you claim for the credit is not considered a qualified education expense for your 529, and part of the distribution may be taxable.

If you claim the full lifetime learning credit, you can’t take tax-free 529 withdrawals for the first $10,000 in tuition expenses you claimed for the credit, but you can withdraw money tax-free from the 529 for additional expenses. “If you withdraw money from the 529 plan and are possibly eligible to claim a credit, make sure to keep receipts for all costs so that they maximize the benefits between the 529 and the credit,” says Thornton.