Author Topic: Taxes- Credit for Education  (Read 962 times)

goalphish2002

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Taxes- Credit for Education
« on: May 01, 2019, 09:23:48 AM »
I am 36 with a few degrees.  I would like to study further at the university level.  Can anyone advise how this might affect my taxes? 

Let's say I spend $3,000 this year on university tuition and qualified expenses.  I'm trying to figure out how/if this would lessen my tax liability.     


zolotiyeruki

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Re: Taxes- Credit for Education
« Reply #1 on: May 01, 2019, 10:06:51 AM »
There's a taxes subforum for just this sort of question! :)

chicagomeg

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Re: Taxes- Credit for Education
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2019, 10:40:36 AM »
If you already have a bachelor's degree you would only qualify for the lifetime learning credit. It has income limits you can find in the IRS pub 529, but will essentially get you back 20% as a nonrefundable credit up to $10k in expenses.

If you live in a state with deductible 529 plan contributions & plan to pay for the courses in cash, another option is to funnel money through one for the state write off, then use it right away for the expenses. That varies a lot by state because they each have their own rules on how much you can deduct and how long you have to "season" the money, but I was able to do this successfully in IL a few years back.