Education Tax Credits

Education tax credits are pretty straight-forward. We'll tell you what expenses qualify.

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Education tax credits: the basics

There are two education tax credits:

  • The Hope tax credit for the first two years of college, and

  • The Lifetime Learning credit for job-related classes.

Since you already know what these educational tax credits work, we'll cover other topics.

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If you take the H&R Block e-filing interview, claiming the education tax credits is easy!

Education tax credits: qualifying expenses

Qualifying education-related expenses are:

Tuition, student activity fees, cost of course related books, and the cost of supplies and equipment.

They do not include meals, room and board, voluntary athletic fees, insurance, transportation, or other unrelated expenses.

Form 1098-T list total qualifying expenses.

Education tax credits: the forms

For a paper return, use IRS form 8863 and attach it to your 1040.

Related IRS publications

Get more information about education tax credits from IRS Publication 970

For a paper tax return attach IRS Form 8863 with your return. (If you e-file, this will be done for you automatically.)

Note: you will need an Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these publications, which you can get here.