I have co-signed educational loan and made monthly payments for my dependent daughter. Can i say "yes " to "Did you or spouse pay any student loans in 2020?

[xmasbaby0]

Yes you can.

STUDENT LOAN INTEREST

Only the person whose name is on the student loan and who is legally obligated to pay the loan can deduct the student loan interest.  If you co-signed then you are legally obligated if the primary borrower defaults.  If you did not sign or co-sign for the loan you cannot deduct the interest.

You cannot deduct student loan interest if you are being claimed as someone else’s dependent, or if you are filing as married filing separately.

The student loan interest deduction can reduce your taxable income by up to $2500

There is a phaseout for the Student loan interest deduction, which means the amount you can deduct gets reduced when your modified adjusted gross income hits certain income levels and is even eliminated at certain income levels -  

•If your filing status is single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er), then the phaseout begins at $65,000 until $80,000, after which the deduction is eliminated entirely.

•If your filing status is married filing joint, then the phaseout beings at  $130,000 until $160,000, after which the deduction is eliminated entirely.

 Enter the interest you paid for your student loan by going to Federal>Deductions and Credits>Education>Student Loan Interest Paid in 2020 (Form 1098E)

Look on your 2020 Schedule 1 line 20 to see your student loan interest deduction

[2018taxprep]

Thank you...Just clarifying  the details...

In whose name was the student loan in

The options are 

• my name
• my spose name 
• some one else   (Not my daughters name here)

I assume , I will tick at my name(since i co-signed and daughter is claimed as dependent) , even though 1098-e sent by sallimae has my daughters name in it........Please let me know  am I correct here?

[2018taxprep]

I talk to turbo online support. The explained to that I cannot do the above deduction

ie..... Co-signer, who paid monthly payments for dependent daughter, not entitled to take 1098-e deduction 

[xmasbaby0]

@2018taxprep Either you misunderstood or talked to someone who made a mistake.   If you co-signed for a student loan and you have made the payments on the student loan, you CAN enter the interest from the 1098E on your own tax return.    

[Opus 17]

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@2018taxprep wrote:

I talk to turbo online support. The explained to that I cannot do the above deduction

ie..... Co-signer, who paid monthly payments for dependent daughter, not entitled to take 1098-e deduction 

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There are some special rules for student loan interest that don't apply to normal deductions.

If you are legally obligated (a co-signer) and you pay the interest, you have two options.

1. Take the interest deduction on your tax return.  

2. Your child can take the interest deduction on their tax return as if they paid the interest, even if you paid it.  The interest is treated as though you made a gift to your child and your child paid it.  (This is not allowed for most other deductions but is allowed for student loan interest.)

You and your child can't both take the deduction.  

In all cases, you can take the student loan interest deduction as long as the student was your dependent when the loan was signed, even if they stop being your dependent later.