{"id":498,"date":"2011-08-16T11:24:49","date_gmt":"2011-08-16T16:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/?p=498"},"modified":"2011-08-16T11:24:49","modified_gmt":"2011-08-16T16:24:49","slug":"back-to-school-tips-for-students-and-parents-paying-college-expenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/?p=498","title":{"rendered":"Back-to-School Tips for Students and Parents Paying College Expenses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you’re a recent graduate going to college for the first time or a
\nreturning student, it will soon be time to get to campus \u2013 and payment
\ndeadlines for tuition and other fees are not far behind. The Internal Revenue
\nService reminds students or parents paying such expenses to keep receipts and
\nto be aware of some tax benefits that can help offset college costs.<\/p>\n

Typically, these benefits apply to you, your spouse or a dependent for whom
\nyou claim an exemption on your tax return.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. American Opportunity
    \nCredit\u00a0<\/strong>
    \nThis credit, originally created under the American Recovery and
    \nReinvestment Act, has been extended for an additional two years \u2013 2011 and
    \n2012. The credit can be up to $2,500 per eligible student and is available
    \nfor the first four years of post secondary education. Forty percent of
    \nthis credit is refundable, which means that you may be able to receive up
    \nto $1,000, even if you owe no taxes. Qualified expenses include tuition
    \nand fees, course related books, supplies and equipment. The full credit is
    \ngenerally available to eligible taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross
    \nincome is below $80,000 ($160,000 for married couples filing a joint
    \nreturn).<\/li>\n
  2. Lifetime Learning
    \nCredit\u00a0<\/strong>
    \nIn 2011, you may be able to claim a Lifetime Learning Credit of up to
    \n$2,000 for qualified education expenses paid for a student enrolled in
    \neligible educational institutions. There is no limit on the number of
    \nyears you can claim the Lifetime Learning Credit for an eligible student,
    \nbut to claim the credit, your modified adjusted gross income must be below
    \n$60,000 ($120,000 if married filing jointly).<\/li>\n
  3. Tuition and Fees
    \nDeduction<\/strong>
    \nThis deduction can reduce the amount of your income subject to tax by up
    \nto $4,000 for 2011 even if you do not itemize your deductions. Generally,
    \nyou can claim the tuition and fees deduction for qualified higher
    \neducation expenses for an eligible student if your modified adjusted gross
    \nincome is below $80,000 ($160,000 if married filing jointly).<\/li>\n
  4. Student loan interest
    \ndeduction<\/strong>
    \nGenerally, personal interest you pay, other than certain mortgage
    \ninterest, is not deductible. However, if your modified adjusted gross
    \nincome is less than $75,000 ($150,000 if filing a joint return), you may
    \nbe able to deduct interest paid on a student loan used for higher
    \neducation during the year. It can reduce the amount of your income subject
    \nto tax by up to $2,500, even if you don’t itemize deductions.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    For each student, you can choose to claim only one of the credits in a
    \nsingle tax year. However, if you pay college expenses for two or more students
    \nin the same year, you can choose to take credits on a per-student, per-year
    \nbasis. You can claim the American Opportunity Credit for your sophomore daughter
    \nand the Lifetime Learning Credit for your senior son.<\/p>\n

    You cannot claim the tuition and fees deduction for the same student in the
    \nsame year that you claim the American Opportunity Credit or the Lifetime
    \nLearning Credit. You must choose to either take the credit or the deduction and
    \nshould consider which is more beneficial for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Whether you’re a recent graduate going to college for the first time or a returning student, it will soon be time to get to campus \u2013 and payment deadlines for tuition and other fees are not far behind. The Internal … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-individual","category-taxation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=498"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":499,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498\/revisions\/499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hoorfarlaw.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}