{"id":3683,"date":"2016-04-26T07:00:46","date_gmt":"2016-04-26T07:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/?p=3683"},"modified":"2018-02-05T19:29:33","modified_gmt":"2018-02-05T19:29:33","slug":"money-smart-tips-on-financing-your-education-and-tax-credits-from-the-irs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/2016\/04\/26\/money-smart-tips-on-financing-your-education-and-tax-credits-from-the-irs\/","title":{"rendered":"Money Smart Tips on Financing Your Education and Tax Credits from the IRS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3685 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/04\/100-bills-spread.jpg\" alt=\"$100 bills fanned out\" width=\"225\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/04\/100-bills-spread.jpg 225w, https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/04\/100-bills-spread-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>Money you paid for higher education in 2015 can mean tax savings in 2016. If you, your spouse or your dependent took post-high school coursework last year, there may be a tax credit or deduction for you. Here are some facts from the IRS about key tax breaks for higher education.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<strong>American Opportunity Credit (AOTC)<\/strong>\u00a0is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Worth up to $2,500 per eligible student.<\/li>\n<li>Used only for the first four years at an eligible college or vocational school.<\/li>\n<li>For students earning a degree or other recognized credential.<\/li>\n<li>For students going to school at least half-time for at least one academic period that started during or shortly after the tax year.<\/li>\n<li>Claimed on your tax return using\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/uac\/About-Form-8863\">Form 8863<\/a>, Education Credits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The\u00a0<strong>Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC)<\/strong>\u00a0is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Worth up to $2,000 per tax return, per year, no matter how many students qualify.<\/li>\n<li>For all years of higher education, including classes for learning or improving job skills.<\/li>\n<li>Claimed on your tax return using\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/uac\/About-Form-8863\">Form 8863<\/a>, Education Credits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The\u00a0<strong>Tuition and Fees Deduction<\/strong>\u00a0is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Claimed as an adjustment to income.<\/li>\n<li>Claimed whether or not you itemize.<\/li>\n<li>Limited to tuition and certain related expenses required for enrollment or attendance at eligible schools.<\/li>\n<li>Worth up to $4,000.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Additionally<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You should receive\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/forms-pubs\/form-1098-t-tuition-statement\">Form 1098-T<\/a>, Tuition Statement, from your school by Feb. 1, 2016. Your school also sends a copy to the IRS.<\/li>\n<li>You may only claim qualifying expenses paid in 2015.<\/li>\n<li>You can\u2019t claim either credit if someone else claims you as a dependent.<\/li>\n<li>You can\u2019t claim either AOTC or LLC and the Tuition and Fees Deduction for the same student or for the same expense, in the same year.<\/li>\n<li>Income limits could reduce the amount of credits or deductions you can claim.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/uac\/Interactive-Tax-Assistant-(ITA)-1\">Interactive Tax Assistant tool<\/a>on IRS.gov can help you check your eligibility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Click <a href=\"http:\/\/library.calstate.edu\/northridge\/articles\/results?field=subject&amp;query=Tuition+tax+credits+United+States\">here<\/a> for articles, books, media and more resources from the Oviatt Library on Tuition Tax Credits for Higher Education.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/uac\/Tax-Savings-from-Higher-Education-Costs\">https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/uac\/Tax-Savings-from-Higher-Education-Costs<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Money you paid for higher education in 2015 can mean tax savings in 2016. If you, your spouse or your dependent took post-high school coursework&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/2016\/04\/26\/money-smart-tips-on-financing-your-education-and-tax-credits-from-the-irs\/\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Money Smart Tips on Financing Your Education and Tax Credits from the IRS<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":3677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[273,275,272,263,274],"class_list":["post-3683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-outreach","tag-financing-education","tag-irs","tag-money-smart-tips","tag-money-smart-week","tag-tax-credits","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3683"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4400,"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3683\/revisions\/4400"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.csun.edu\/blogs\/cited\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}