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sjgilly2015
Returning Member

Can I deduct student loan interest from a foreign country? How do I add it to my TurboTax without a 2098-E form?

UK resident and went to university, both undergrad and graduate school, in the UK. Moved to the US in 2018 on a green card and continued to pay student loan interest on UK student loans.  In 2022, became a US citizen. Have always filed married filing jointly. Do not receive a 1098-E form. Can student loan interest be claimed? How do you add this information to TurboTax? It seems it only allows a 1098-E form to proceed.
Thanks!
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2 Replies
DMarkM1
Expert Alumni

Can I deduct student loan interest from a foreign country? How do I add it to my TurboTax without a 2098-E form?

No.  Your UK institution is not an eligible institution which explains why there is no form 1098-E.  

 

The student loan interest deduction is interest paid on loans used for qualified education expenses.  Qualified education expenses are items paid to attend an eligible institution.  According IRS Publication 970 (here) page 32 an eligible institution is: 

 

"...generally any accredited public, nonprofit, or proprietary (privately owned profit-making) college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution. Also, the institution must be eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Virtually all accredited postsecondary institutions meet this definition. An eligible educational institution also includes certain educational institutions located outside the United States that are eligible to participate in the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs.

 

The eligible institution will issue a form 1098-E on interest paid.  

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sjgilly2015
Returning Member

Can I deduct student loan interest from a foreign country? How do I add it to my TurboTax without a 2098-E form?

Hi there,

 

Thanks for your reply. I did some additional sleuthing for more clarity. I  guess I was just a little confused because this question: (https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/college-education/discussion/can-i-claim-a-student-loan-interest-deduction-for-my-uk-student-loan/00/596802)  seems very similar to our situation and has the opposite response (sorry I only found it after I posted my question).

 

Both loans are for universities that participate in FSA and were entirely for the costs of tuition as a full-time student. However, as the loan originates in the UK I will not get a 1098-E, but I have requested a statement showing interest paid for 2022. After further investigation, from what I gather, so long as the institution is Title IV approved for the purpose of administering US Govt student loans, and as such has a FAFSA federal school code, interest payments on loans for eligible educational expenses related to study at the institution should be eligible for the deduction. 

 

Because of the conflicting information, I went ahead and followed up with a call to the IRS directly and was connected to a law expert.

 

From the Publication 970 Tax Benefits for Education  (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf) from speaking to the IRS expert and from what you quoted:

"An eligible educational institution is generally any accredited public, nonprofit, or proprietary (privately owned profit-making) college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution. Also, the institution must be eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Virtually all accredited postsecondary institutions meet this definition. An eligible educational institution also includes certain educational institutions located outside the United States that are eligible to participate in the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs. For purposes of the student loan interest deduction, an eligible educational institution also includes an institution conducting an internship or residency program leading to a degree or certificate from an institution of higher education, a hospital, or a health care facility that offers postgraduate training. An educational institution must meet the above criteria only during the academic period(s) for which the student loan was incurred. The deductibility of interest on the loan isn't affected by the institution's subsequent loss of eligibility."

 

 The IRS expert stated our situation did qualify and that we didn't need a 1098-E form as long as the amount of interest paid was accurate and in USD. I guess we will just use the 1098-E section as the first post stated to do, and try to include the official document. I mentioned several times to the IRS expert that it was a foreign loan, so I feel a bit better about it. I will note that the question the IRS expert asked were mostly the questions asked on the Interactive Tax Assistant (ITA) (https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/can-i-claim-a-deduction-for-student-loan-interest) but just wanted to ask a few follow up questions incase we were missing anything 

 

Sorry for any confusion & Thanks!

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