1040A Education Credit Tips

"I'm going to talk now about education credits, this is line 31 and you'll see it references form 8863. Form 8863 is Education Credits for Hope and Lifetime Learning Credits. And we'll talk about the difference between both of these credits in just a minute. These credits are phased out for single taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes ranging from 47,000 to 57,000 and if you're married filing jointly they phase out between 94,000 and 114,000 dollars. You can claim a credit for education if all of the three following requirements apply: You pay for qualified education expenses for higher education, you pay the education expenses for an eligible student. The eligible student is either yourself, your spouse, or a dependent for whom you can claim a deduction. Some of the differences between the Education Credits for the Hope Credit: It's up to $1,650 per eligible student, it's available only until the first two years of post-secondary education are completed, it's available only for two years per eligible student, the student must be pursing an undergraduate degree, the student must be enrolled at least half the time during one academic period from the beginning of the year, and they must not have a felony drug conviction. The Lifetime Learning Credit allows a $2,000 credit per return, it's available for all years of post-secondary education, it's available for an unlimited number of years, the student does not have to be pursuing a degree plan, it's available for one or more courses, and the felony drug conviction rule does not apply."