Tuition and Fees Deduction

Updated on: Jun 26, 2018

The tuition and fees deduction reduced the amount of a taxpayer’s income subject to tax by up to $4,000.

 

The deduction temporarily expired after tax year 2016, but was later extended to tax year 2017. This deduction is currently not available for tax year 2018.

Previous (2017)

For tax year 2017, you could deduct qualified education expenses paid during the year for yourself, your spouse or your dependent. Qualified education expenses were amounts paid for tuition and fees required for the student’s enrollment or attendance at an eligible educational institution. Required fees included amounts for books, supplies, and equipment used in a course of study.

 

Qualified education expenses include nonacademic fees, such as student activity fees, athletic fees, or other expenses unrelated to the academic course of instruction, only if the fee must be paid to the institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance.

 

The deduction wasn’t available if your filing status was married filing separately or if another person could claim an exemption for you as a dependent on his or her tax return. The qualified expenses must have been paid for higher education and the deduction was limited to $4,000.

Change
This deduction is currently not available for tax year 2018 returns.

 

How will this affect me?

Scenario 1

Ava claimed a $4,000 deduction for the college tuition she paid during the year on her tax year 2017 tax return. Unless Congress extends the provision to tax year 2018, she won’t be allowed to take this deduction on her tax year 2018 tax return.

Where to find it on the tax return: