If my employer pays tuition reimbursement, then a year later I leave the company and have to pay the employer the tuition fees back, can I claim that tuition on my taxes?

[floydtheduck]

My employer provides tuition reimbursement (this is for graduate school for a Masters). However, if I leave the company within 2 years from receiving the reimbursement then I have to pay it back. I'm wondering if that were to happen, if I can claim that on my taxes after the fact? e.g. if my employer pays $6,000 for my tuition in 2019, $5,250 is not taxable (from what I understand) and the remaining $750 would be taxable (and therefore claimable under the Lifetime Learning Credit, so I'd get $150 back). If I leave my employer in 2020 and have to pay them the $6000 back, can I claim the previously unclaimed $5,250 (for $1,050 back) on my 2020 (submitted in 2021) tax return even though I attended the school in 2019?

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

You would have to amend your 2019 return, in your scenario, instead of claiming the tuition as paid in 2020.  But on the main point, because you would have (more or less) retroactively paid the tuition with your own money, you can claim any eligible credits, also retroactively.