One way to help ease the bite of the cost of a college education is to use all available tax rules to your advantage. There are several items you can use, including 529 plans, Coverdell ESAs, and various credits for tuition and fee payments. The IRS recently released their Summertime Tax Tip 2013-19: Back-to-School Tax Tips for Students and Parents, providing a valuable overview of a couple of important credits and deductions. The actual text of the Tip follows: Back-to-School Tax Tips for Students and Parents Going to college can be a stressful time for students and parents. The IRS offers these tips about education tax benefits that can help offset some college costs and maybe relieve some of that stress. American Opportunity Tax Credit. This credit can be up to $2,500 per eligible student. The AOTC is available for the first four years of post secondary education. Forty percent of […]
american opportunity tax credit
Tax tips for college expenses
Most all college students are back on campus by this point but the benefits that you can receive from various tax credits will not become apparent until you pay your taxes next year. It’s important to know what tax credits you may be eligible for early on, so that you keep good records as you pay these college expenses. Recently the IRS published their Summertime Tax Tip 2012 – 25 which details tips for students and parents paying college expenses. The actual text of this tip is listed below. Back-to-school tips for students and parents and college expenses Whether you’re a recent high school graduate going to college for the first time or a returning student, it will soon be time to head to campus, and payment deadlines for tuition and other fees are not far behind. The IRS over some tips about education tax benefits that can help […]
Share, tweet, print, email, like or pin this post:
Tax Benefits for College
When faced with the high cost of college, you want to find and take advantage of every opportunity that you can to cut down on your out-of-pocket expenses, before you give in and take out loans. So after you’ve applied for all of the grants, scholarships, and other non-loan financial aid that you can, it’s time to consider what sorts of tax benefits may help out with your situation. Credits There are two different kinds of tax credits currently available in tax year 2010 and 2011: American Opportunity Credit – This credit is available for students (and parents of students) that are in their first four years in a degree program at college. The credit is a maximum of $2,500, and is calculated as: 100% of the first $2,000, and 25% of the next $2,000 of Qualified Higher Education Expenses (QHEE) paid for that student. QHEE is limited to tuition, […]
Sterling Raskie, MSFS, CFP®, ChFC®
The latest in our Owner’s Manual series, A 401(k) Owner’s Manual, was published in January 2020 and is available on 
A Medicare Owner’s Manual, is updated with 2020 facts and figures. This manual is available on 
Social Security for the Suddenly Single can be found on Amazon at 
Sterling’s first book, Lose Weight Save Money, can be 
An IRA Owner’s Manual, 2nd Edition is available for purchase on Amazon. Click the link to choose the 
Jim’s book – A Social Security Owner’s Manual, is now available on Amazon. Click this link for the 
And if you’ve come here to learn about queuing waterfowl, I apologize for the confusion. You may want to discuss your question with Lester, my loyal watchduck and self-proclaimed “advisor’s advisor”.