Education expenses

[Lanric02]

For my son, in the 'other education expenses', the following categories appear in the interview:

Tuition and enrollment fees

Books and materials required to be purchased from the school

Books and materials not required..

Other books and course related materials

Room and Board

Computer, Software and Internet Service

Special Needs Expenses

Academic Tutoring (for elementary and secondary schools only)

Uniforms (For elementary and secondary schools only)

My other son is in High school and I wanted to enter numbers in the Academic Tutoring Section.  For him though, only the following appear:

Tuition and enrollment fees

Books and materials required to be purchased from the school

Books and materials not required..

Any idea why?  The only difference I can tell is that I had a 1099-Q for my first son.

[xmasbaby0]

EDUCATION EXPENSES

Education expenses for grades K-12 are not deductible on your Federal return, whether for private, public, or home schooling, nor are the expenses for tutoring, after school lessons or after school activities, such as dance lessons, sports, etc.  Some states allow deductions/credits for K-12 education and/or home schooling expenses; if your state has these deductions available, you will be prompted to enter them when you prepare your state return.  (As far as I know, the states that offer any sort of K-12 deductions/credits are Arizona,  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,Louisiana, Minnesota, and Wisconsin)

[Lanric02]

Yes, but for my daughter in college, those other expenses don't appear as a choice either.  Wondering if it has to do with her not having a 1099-Q

[xmasbaby0]

QUALIFIED EDUCATION EXPENSES

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1899852-what-are-considered-qualified-education-expenses

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2976047-what-are-examples-of-education-expenses

[Lanric02]

Yes, but why does the program give all those other options for my 1 son? 

[xmasbaby0]

@Hal_Al    ??????   You are better at these college questions!

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

Yes,  if it has to do with one student having a 1099-Q. The qualifying expenses for a 529 distribution are much more generous.

[Lanric02]

Thanks.  But it says 'tutoring for high school students'.  The only way to get a 1099-Q is if he attended private school.  So that is only deductible (or 529 eligible) for private school kids? 

[Opus 17]

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@Lanric02 wrote:

Yes, but for my daughter in college, those other expenses don't appear as a choice either.  Wondering if it has to do with her not having a 1099-Q

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For a child in college who is not using a 529 to pay for expenses, there are only three categories of qualifying expenses if I recall correctly

1. Tuition
2. Books and supplies that are required for the degree program and purchased from the college
3. Books and supplies that are required for the degree program purchased elsewhere

a, b and c are eligible for the AOTC but only a and b are eligible expenses for the Lifetime Learning Credit.  Expenses for room and board, tutoring, travel and other things are not qualified expenses for these credits. 

[Opus 17]

Based on your question, you have two sons in high school.  The son who does not have a 1099-Q does not get any tax benefits and you should delete their entries completely.

There are certain tax benefits for higher education (college and above) including the Lifetime Learning Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Tuition and Fees Deduction (for which 2020 is the last year).  These are only available for higher education.

529 and other plans were originally created to pay higher education expenses, but Congress expanded them to cover K-12 expenses.  They also cover a more generous list of expenses than the higher education tax credits, up to $10,000 per year. 

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc313

If your children are not in college, there are no federal tax benefits, except the ability to reimburse expenses from a 529 plan.  If you did not use a 529 plan for one of your sons, there are no tax benefit's for that son's education. 

[Lanric02]

Thanks.  Any idea why the program isn't completing Section 1 of form 8917 for my two kids in college?  I already input the 1099-T information for both kids.