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The Lifetime Learning Credit
The Lifetime Learning Credit is offered to
encourage people to improve or acquire new job skills. This credit
applies to tuition and fees for undergraduate, graduate, and
continuing-education courses. Qualified tuition and related expenses are
tuition and fees a student must pay to be enrolled at or attend an
eligible educational institution. The following are not qualified
tuition and related expenses: (1) amounts paid for any course or other
education involving sports, games or hobbies (unless the course or other
education is part of the student's degree program); (2) charges and fees
for room, board, student activities, athletics, insurance, books,
equipment, transportation (and similar personal, living or family
expenses). If you or the student claim a deduction for higher education
expenses, such as on Schedule A or Schedule C (Form 1040), you cannot
use those expenses when figuring your education credits. Also, higher
education expenses paid with a tax-free scholarship, Pell Grant or
employer-provided educational assistance cannot be used when figuring
your education credits. Part-time and full-time students are eligible
for the Lifetime Learning Credit. Unlike the Hope Scholarship Credit,
you are not required to be enrolled at least half-time in one of the
first two years of post-secondary education. You may be eligible to
receive a partial credit, even if you are taking only a single course at
a community college.
You are eligible for the Lifetime
Learning Credit if you have qualified expenses paid in the corresponding tax year
as a student enrolled at or attending an eligible educational institution. The full
amount of the Lifetime Learning Credit is available to married taxpayers
filing jointly with an adjusted gross income (AGI) of $107,000 or less
and to single taxpayers with an AGI of $53,000 or less. Married
taxpayers with a combined AGI of $107,000 or greater and single
taxpayers with an AGI of $53,000 or greater are ineligible for these
credits. You cannot claim credits if your filing status is married and
filing separately or you are claimed as a dependent on another person's
tax return (such as your parents’ return). Taxpayers cannot use both
the Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Credits for the same student
in a single year.
You may be able to claim a Lifetime Learning Credit
of up to $2,000 for qualified education expenses paid for all students
enrolled in eligible education institutions.
The Lifetime Learning Credit is
nonrefundable. If the taxpayer is claiming a Hope Scholarship Credit for
a particular student, none of that student’s expenses for that year
may be applied toward the Lifetime Learning Credit.
For more information about the Hope
Scholarship Credit, call the IRS at 1-800-TAX-1040 or visit their web
site at www.irs.gov.
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