How to Claim Education Credits or Tuition and Fees Deduction

If you are a college student, or paid tuition for a college student, you may be eligible to claim American opportunity credit, lifetime learning credit or tuition and fees deduction.

Step 1: Figure out whether you are qualified to claim the credits or deduction.

Use the table below to figure out whether you are qualified to claim American opportunity credit, lifetime learning credit or tuition and fees deduction.

Since you are only allowed to take one education credit for each student and you can't take tuition and fees deduction if you take any education credit, you need to choose either to take education credit or tuition and fees deduction. Generally, you get most tax benefit by taking American opportunity credit and least tax savings by taking tuition and fees deduction.

Note 1: If you are a college student and you did not pay qualified education expenses by yourself, you can still claim education credits. You are considered to have paid all the qualified expenses if you claim the education credits.

Note 2: You can NOT claim education credits or tuition and fees deduction if your filing status is married filing separately, or you  (or your spouse) were a nonresident alien for any part of 2016 and the nonresident alien didn't elect to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes.

Step 2: Determine who can and should claim the credits.

1. Use the table below to figure out who can claim education credits or tuition and fees deduction. You can also see Example – How to Determine Whether You Can Claim American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit to have a better understanding of who can claim education credits.
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2. If both you and your dependent can claim the credits, you may want to figure out who can claim more credit. See Example - How to Claim Maximum Education Credits (American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit).

Step 3: Collect information for education credits or tuition and fees deduction.

1. Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement - This form provides information about the qualified education expenses paid or billed, scholarship and adjustments etc. you should receive Form 1098-T from the college or university you attend by February 1 of the following year. 

2. Any document or receipt that can support your payment of qualified education expenses which are not reported on Form 1098-T.

Step 4: Calculate qualified education expenses for education credits or tuition and fees deduction.

Use the worksheet below to calculate qualified education expenses that you can use to claim education credits or tuition and fees deduction.

You can also see the Example 1 from How to Use Form 1098-T to Figure American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit for calculating qualified education expenses.

Step 5: Calculate and claim education credits or tuition and fees deduction.

American opportunity credit and lifetime learning credit

Complete Form 8863 to calculate and claim  American opportunity credit and lifetime learning credit and attach it with your Form 1040 or 1040A.

Tuition and fees deduction

Complete Form 8917 to calculate and claim  tuition and fees deduction and attach it with your Form 1040 or 1040A.

If you use a tax software to prepare your return, the software will generate Form 8863 or Form 8917 after you answered all questions related to the education credits or tuition and fees deduction.

You can also see an example of using Form 8863 to claim education credits on IRS Publication 970, Appendix A and an example of using Form 8917 to claim tuition and fees deduction on IRS Publication 970, Chapter 6, Tuition and Fees Deduction.

For more information, please see IRS Publication 970.


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