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I would like to take advantage of my child's college tuition benefit as the line 34 deduction instead of a credit. TurboTax doesn't appear to let me. What am I missing?

I'm eligible for the ACA subsidy, and taking the deduction improves the subsidy amount.

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1 Best answer

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Hal_Al
Level 15

I would like to take advantage of my child's college tuition benefit as the line 34 deduction instead of a credit. TurboTax doesn't appear to let me. What am I missing?

It usually also reduces your taxable income on your state return. But your should compare the numbers closely. The American Opportunity credit, for most people, is $2500, and is much more valuable than the deduction, even with the change in subsidy.

You can make a copy a  of your return and do a trial return the other way (this method is not available to online software users).

That said,  type> letme <in the search (find) box. TurboTax (TT) will give you the option to select the Tuition and Fees deduction (2 or 3 screens in)

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2 Replies
Hal_Al
Level 15

I would like to take advantage of my child's college tuition benefit as the line 34 deduction instead of a credit. TurboTax doesn't appear to let me. What am I missing?

It usually also reduces your taxable income on your state return. But your should compare the numbers closely. The American Opportunity credit, for most people, is $2500, and is much more valuable than the deduction, even with the change in subsidy.

You can make a copy a  of your return and do a trial return the other way (this method is not available to online software users).

That said,  type> letme <in the search (find) box. TurboTax (TT) will give you the option to select the Tuition and Fees deduction (2 or 3 screens in)

I would like to take advantage of my child's college tuition benefit as the line 34 deduction instead of a credit. TurboTax doesn't appear to let me. What am I missing?

Thanks for the quick answer!  I'll look into the "letme" search. The question I want to investigate is whether the deduction increases the ACA subsidy enough to make up for the difference. It's hard to tell without comparing the two options...
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