A Tax Consultant for All Seasons

If you have a student in college, like most parents, you are looking for ways to save money. One option is saving money on your taxes. There are several options for reducing your taxes for money you paid on tuition and fees. Each option has different rules, and they all have income limitations that squeeze out a lot of middle class parents. The single parent takes a real hit.  You have the same income restrictions as a single person putting their  own way through school.

The Hope Credit has a single income limitation of a Modified Adjusted Gross Income of 57,000 for singles and 114,000 for married couples filing jointly. The Life Time Learning Credit has the same. The Tuition and Fees Deduction has the highest at a Modified Adjusted Gross Income of  80,000 for singles and 160,000 for married couples filing jointly. Heads of Household get no additional break here.

All these credits and deductions have other rules about who can claim them and what expenses are allowable. The IRS website has the details in its Publication 970.  So visit the IRS website or contact a tax professional to determine which if any of these deductions are right for your situation.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 20:46 and is filed under Individuals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.