What is in this publication. Chapter 1, Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants, and Tuition Reductions , explains the tax treatment of various types of educational assistance, including scholarships, fellowships, and tuition reductions.
Two tax credits for which you may be eligible are explained in chapter 2, American Opportunity Credit , and chapter 3, Lifetime Learning Credit . These benefits, which reduce the amount of income tax you may have to pay, are:
• The American opportunity credit, and
• The lifetime learning credit.
Ten other types of benefits are explained in chapters 4 through 12 . With these benefits, you may be able to:
• Deduct student loan interest;
• Receive tax-free treatment of a canceled student loan;
• Receive tax-free student loan repayment assistance;
• Deduct tuition and fees for education;
• Establish and contribute to a Coverdell education savings account (ESA), which features tax-free earnings;
• Participate in a qualified tuition program (QTP), which features tax-free earnings;
• Take early distributions from any type of individual retirement arrangement (IRA) for education costs without paying the 10% additional tax on early distributions;
• Cash in savings bonds for education costs without having to pay tax on the interest;
• Receive tax-free educational benefits from your employer; and
• Take a business deduction for work-related education.
You generally cannot claim more than one of the benefits described in the lists above for the same qualifying education expense.
When you figure your taxes, you may want to compare these tax benefits so you can choose the method(s) that gives you the lowest tax liability. If you qualify, you may find that a combination of credit(s) and deduction(s) gives you the lowest tax.
Analyzing your tax withholding. After you estimate your education tax benefits for the year, you may be able to reduce the amount of your federal income tax withholding. Also, you may want to recheck your withholding during the year if your personal or financial situation changes. See Publication 919, How Do I Adjust My Tax Withholding, for more information.
Glossary. In this publication, wherever appropriate, we have tried to use the same or similar terminology when referring to the basic components of each education benefit. Some of the terms used are:
• Qualified education expenses,
• Eligible educational institution, and
• Modified adjusted gross income.
Even though the same term, such as qualified education expenses, is used to label a basic component of many of the education benefits, the same expenses are not necessarily allowed for each benefit. For example, the cost of room and board is a qualified education expense for the qualified tuition program, but not for the education savings bond program.
Many of the terms used in the publication are defined in the glossary near the end of the publication. The glossary is not intended to be a substitute for reading the chapter on a particular education benefit, but it will give you an overview of how certain terms are used in discussing the different benefits.
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