Academic period vs payment date

[ejchien]

Hi, I am researching the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC) and am a little confused. There are two statements on the IRC website that I'm having trouble reconciling:

• If you pay the expenses with money from a loan, you take the credit for the year you pay the expenses, not the year you get the loan or the year you repay the loan.
• You must pay the qualified education expenses for an academic period that starts during the tax year or the first three months of the next tax year.

If in December 2019 I pay qualified expenses for an academic period beginning January 2020, would I be looking to claim the LLC for TY 2019 or 2020? Thanks!

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

from 2018 form 8863 instructions

For 2018, the credits are based on the amount of
adjusted qualified education expenses paid for the student in
2018 for academic periods beginning in 2018 or beginning in the
first 3 months of 2019.
  so you can claim the payments in 2019 if the academic year begins in the first three month of 2020 

IRC code Section 25A(g)(4)