Federal Tuition and Fees Deduction

Tuition and Fees Deduction
Form 8917 (Rev. January 2020)
8917

Form
(Rev. January 2020)
Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

Tuition and Fees Deduction
▶

OMB No. 1545-0074

▶ Attach to Form 1040 or 1040-SR.
Go to www.irs.gov/Form8917 for the latest information.

Attachment
Sequence No.

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CAUTION

60

Your social security number

Name(s) shown on return

Use this form for qualified tuition and fees paid in 2018, 2019, or 2020, and later years if legislation extends the deduction
(see instructions). File a separate Form 8917 for each year after 2017 for which you qualify to take the deduction.
You can’t take both an education credit from Form 8863 and the tuition and fees deduction from this form for the
same student for the same tax year.

Before you begin:

✔ To see if you qualify for this deduction, see Who Can Take the Deduction in the instructions below.
✔ If you file Form 1040 or 1040-SR, figure any write-in adjustments.
• For 2018: Figure any write-in adjustments to be entered on the dotted line next to Schedule 1 (Form
1040), line 36.
• For 2019: Figure any write-in adjustments to be entered on the dotted line next to Schedule 1 (Form
1040 or 1040-SR), line 22.
• For 2020 and later years: Figure any write-in adjustments for Schedule 1 (Form 1040 or 1040-SR); see
the Instructions for Forms 1040 and 1040-SR.

1

(a) Student’s name (as shown on page 1 of your tax return)
First name

(b) Student’s social security
number (as shown on page
1 of your tax return)

Last name

2

Add the amounts on line 1, column (c), and enter the total .

3

Enter the amount from your “total income” line of Form 1040 or
1040-SR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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(c) Adjusted qualified
expenses (see
instructions)

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• For 2018: Enter the total of the amounts on your 2018 Schedule 1
(Form 1040), lines 23 through 33, plus any write-in adjustments you
entered on the dotted line next to Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 36.
• For 2019 and 2020: Enter the total of the amounts on your 2019
Schedule 1 (Form 1040 or 1040-SR), lines 10 through 20, plus any
write-in adjustments you entered on the dotted line next to
Schedule 1 (Form 1040 or 1040-SR), line 22.
• For later years: See www.irs.gov/Form8917 to find out if the line
references above for 2019 have changed . . . . . . . .

5

4

Subtract line 4 from line 3.* If the result is more than $80,000 ($160,000 if married filing jointly),
stop; you can’t take the deduction for tuition and fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

5

* If you’re filing Form 2555, 2555-EZ, or 4563, or you’re excluding income from Puerto Rico, see
Effect of the Amount of Your Income on the Amount of Your Deduction in Pub. 970 to figure the
amount to enter on line 5.
6

Tuition and fees deduction. Is the amount on line 5 more than $65,000 ($130,000 if married
filing jointly)?
Yes. Enter the smaller of line 2, or $2,000.
No.

Enter the smaller of line 2, or $4,000.

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Also enter this amount on line 21 of the 2019 and 2020 Schedule 1 (Form 1040 or 1040-SR), or
line 34 of the 2018 Schedule 1 (Form 1040). See www.irs.gov/Form8917 to find out if the line
references above for 2019 have changed.
For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see your tax return instructions.

Cat. No. 37728P

Form 8917 (Rev. 1-2020)

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Form 8917 (Rev. 1-2020)

General Instructions

Who Can Take the Deduction

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.

You may be able to take the deduction if you, your spouse, or a
dependent you claim on your tax return was a student enrolled
at or attending an eligible educational institution. The deduction
is based on the amount of qualified education expenses you
paid for the student in the current year for academic periods
beginning in the current year or beginning in the first 3 months
of the following year.
Generally, in order to claim the deduction for education
expenses for a dependent, you must have paid the expenses in
the current year and must claim the student as a dependent on
your current year tax return (the “Dependents” line of Form 1040
or 1040-SR). For additional information, see Pub. 970.
You can’t claim the tuition and fees deduction if any of the
following apply.
• Your filing status is married filing separately.
• Another person can claim an exemption for you as a
dependent on his or her tax return. You can’t take the deduction
even if the other person doesn’t actually claim that exemption.
• Your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), as figured on
line 5, is more than $80,000 ($160,000 if filing a joint return).
• You were a nonresident alien for any part of the year and
didn’t elect to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes.
More information on nonresident aliens can be found in Pub.
519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.
You can’t claim a tuition and fees deduction for any student if
you or anyone else claims an American opportunity or lifetime
learning credit (Form 8863) in the current year for expenses of
the student for whom the qualified education expenses were
paid. However, a state tax credit won’t disqualify you from
claiming a tuition and fees deduction.

What’s New
Deduction extended. The tuition and fees deduction is
extended for qualified tuition and fees paid in calendar years
2018, 2019, and 2020. Don’t claim the deduction for expenses
paid after 2020 unless the credit is extended again. Use Form
8917 (Rev. January 2020) and these instructions for years after
2017, unless a newer revision is issued indicating it is
succeeding this revision.
Periodic updating. Form 8917 will no longer be updated
annually. Instead, it will only be updated when necessary. For
previous years, use the applicable Form 8917 for that year.
Example 1. Use the 2017 Form 8917 for your 2017 qualified
tuition and fees expenses deduction on your 2017 original or
amended return.
Form 1040-SR. Form 1040-SR is a new form for 2019 and later
years, with larger print and available for taxpayers 65 years or
older. Although it’s often mentioned with Form 1040 on Form
8917 and in these instructions, it isn’t available for 2018.

Future Developments
For the latest information about developments related to Form
8917 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they
were published, go to www.irs.gov/Form8917.

Reminders
Form 1098-T requirement. To be eligible to claim the tuition
and fees deduction, American opportunity credit, or the lifetime
earning credit, the law requires a taxpayer (or a dependent) to
have received a Form 1098-T from an eligible educational
institution.
However, a taxpayer may claim one of these education
benefits if the student doesn’t receive a Form 1098-T because
the student’s educational institution isn’t required to send a
Form 1098-T to the student under existing rules (for example, if
the student is a nonresident alien, has qualified education
expenses paid entirely with scholarships, or has qualified
education expenses paid under a formal billing arrangement). If a
student’s educational institution isn’t required to provide a Form
1098-T to the student, a taxpayer may claim one of these
education benefits without a Form 1098-T if the taxpayer
otherwise qualifies, can demonstrate that the taxpayer (or a
dependent) was enrolled at an eligible educational institution,
and can substantiate the payment of qualified tuition and related
expenses.

Purpose of Form
Use Form 8917 (Rev. January 2020) to figure and take the
deduction for tuition and fees expenses paid in calendar years
2018, 2019, and 2020, and later years if the deduction is
extended.
This deduction is based on adjusted qualified education
expenses paid to an eligible educational institution
(postsecondary). See Qualified Education Expenses, later, for
more information.
You may be able to take the American opportunity credit
TIP or lifetime learning credit for your education expenses
instead of the tuition and fees deduction. See Form
8863, Education Credits, and Pub. 970, Tax Benefits for
Education, for more information about these credits.

Qualified Education Expenses
Generally, qualified education expenses are amounts paid in the
current year for tuition and fees required for the student’s
enrollment or attendance at an eligible educational institution.
Required fees include amounts for books, supplies, and
equipment used in a course of study if required to be paid to the
institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance. It doesn’t
matter whether the expenses were paid in cash, by check, by
credit or debit card, or with borrowed funds.
Qualified education expenses include nonacademic fees,
such as student activity fees, athletic fees, or other expenses
unrelated to the academic course of instruction, only if the fee
must be paid to the institution as a condition of enrollment or
attendance. However, fees for personal expenses (described
below) are never qualified education expenses.
Qualified education expenses don’t include amounts paid for
the following.
• Personal expenses. This means room and board, insurance,
medical expenses (including student health fees), transportation,
and other similar personal, living, or family expenses.
• Any course or other education involving sports, games, or
hobbies, or any noncredit course, unless such course or other
education is part of the student’s degree program or helps the
student acquire or improve job skills.
Qualified education expenses don’t include any expenses for
which you take any other deduction, such as on Schedule A
(Form 1040 or 1040-SR) or Schedule C (Form 1040 or 1040-SR).

Form 8917 (Rev. 1-2020)

You may receive Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, from the
institution reporting either payments received in the current year
or amounts billed in the current year. However, the amounts
may be different from the amount you paid (or are treated as
having paid). In completing Form 8917, use only the amounts
you actually paid (plus any amounts you’re treated as having
paid) in the current year (reduced, as necessary, as described in
Adjusted Qualified Education Expenses, later). See Pub. 970 for
more information on Form 1098-T.
Qualified education expenses paid directly to the institution
by someone other than you or the student are treated as paid to
the student and then paid by the student to the institution.

Academic Period
An academic period is any quarter, semester, trimester, or any
other period of study as reasonably determined by an eligible
educational institution. If an eligible educational institution uses
credit hours or clock hours and doesn’t have academic terms,
each payment period may be treated as an academic period.

Prepaid Expenses
Qualified education expenses paid in the current year for an
academic period that begins in the first 3 months of the
following year can be used in figuring the tuition and fees
deduction for the current year only.
Example 2. Qualified education expenses paid in 2018 for an
academic period that begins in the first 3 months of 2019 can
be used in figuring the tuition and fees deduction for 2018 only.
See Academic Period, earlier.
Example 3. If you pay $2,000 in December 2019 for qualified
tuition for the 2020 winter quarter that begins in January 2020,
you can use that $2,000 in figuring the tuition and fees
deduction for 2019 only (if you meet all the other requirements).
You can’t use any amount you paid in the previous or
future year to figure the qualified education expenses you
CAUTION
use to figure your current year tuition and fees
deduction.
Example 4. You can’t use any amount you paid in 2017 or
2019 to figure the qualified deduction expenses you use to
figure your 2018 tuition and fees deduction.

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Adjusted Qualified Education Expenses
For each student, reduce the qualified education expenses paid
by or on behalf of that student under the following rules. The
result is the amount of adjusted qualified education expenses
for each student.
Tax-free educational assistance. For tax-free educational
assistance received in the current year, reduce the qualified
educational expenses for each academic period by the amount
of tax-free educational assistance allocable to that academic
period. See Academic Period, earlier.
Tax-free educational assistance includes:
1. The tax-free part of any scholarship or fellowship grant
(including Pell grants);
2. The tax-free part of any employer-provided educational
assistance;
3. Veterans’ educational assistance; and
4. Any other educational assistance that is excludable from
gross income (tax free), other than as a gift, bequest, devise, or
inheritance.
You may be able to increase the combined value of your
tuition and fees deduction and certain educational
assistance if the student includes some or all of the
educational assistance in income in the year it is received. For
details, see Pub. 970.
TIP

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Generally, any scholarship or fellowship grant is treated as
tax-free educational assistance. However, a scholarship or
fellowship grant isn’t treated as tax-free educational assistance
to the extent the student includes it in gross income (the student
may or may not be required to file a tax return) for the year the
scholarship or fellowship grant is received and either:
• The scholarship or fellowship grant (or any part of it) must be
applied (by its terms) to expenses (such as room and board)
other than qualified education expenses as defined in Qualified
education expenses in Pub. 970; or
• The scholarship or fellowship grant (or any part of it) may be
applied (by its terms) to expenses (such as room and board)
other than qualified education expenses as defined in Qualified
education expenses in Pub. 970.
Tax-free educational assistance treated as a refund. Some
tax-free educational assistance received after the current year
may be treated as a refund of qualified education expenses paid
in the current year. This tax-free educational assistance is any
tax-free educational assistance received by you or anyone else
after the current year for qualified education expenses paid on
behalf of a student in the current year (or attributable to
enrollment at an eligible educational institution during the
current year).
If this tax-free educational assistance is received after the
current year but before you file your current year income tax
return, see Refunds received after the current year but before
your income tax return is filed, later. If this tax-free educational
assistance is received after the current year and after you file
your current year income tax return, see Refunds received after
the current year and after your income tax return is filed, later.
Refunds. A refund of qualified education expenses may reduce
adjusted qualified education expenses for the tax year or may
require you to include some or all of the refund in your gross
income for the year the refund is received. See Pub. 970 for
more information. Some tax-free educational assistance
received after the current year may be treated as a refund. See
Tax-free educational assistance treated as a refund, earlier.
Refunds received in the current year. For each student,
figure the adjusted qualified education expenses for the current
year by adding all the qualified education expenses paid in the
current year and subtracting any refunds of those expenses
received from the eligible educational institution during the
current year.
Refunds received after the current year but before your
income tax return is filed. If anyone receives a refund after the
current year of qualified education expenses you paid on behalf
of a student in the current year and the refund is received before
you file your current year income tax return, reduce the amount
of qualified education expenses for the current year by the
amount of the refund.
Refunds received after the current year and after your
income tax return is filed. If anyone receives a refund after the
current year of qualified education expenses you paid on behalf
of a student in the current year and the refund is received after
you file your current year income tax return, you may need to
include some or all of the refund in your gross income for the
year the refund is received. See Pub. 970 for more information.
Coordination with Coverdell education savings accounts
and qualified tuition programs. Reduce your qualified
education expenses by any qualified education expenses used
to figure the exclusion from gross income of (a) interest received
under an education savings bond program, or (b) any
distribution from a Coverdell education savings account or
qualified tuition program (QTP). For a QTP, this applies only to
the amount of tax-free earnings that were distributed, not to the
recovery of contributions to the program.

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Form 8917 (Rev. 1-2020)

Eligible Educational Institution

Specific Instructions

An eligible educational institution is generally any accredited
public, nonprofit, or proprietary (private) college, university,
vocational school, or other postsecondary institution. Also, the
institution must be eligible to participate in a student aid
program administered by the 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 a student aid program administered
by the Department of Education.

Line 1

TIP

The educational institution should be able to tell you if it
is an eligible institution.

Additional Information
See Pub. 970 for more information about the tuition and fees
deduction.

Complete columns (a) through (c) on line 1 for each student for
whom you elect to take the tuition and fees deduction.
Note: If you have more than three students who qualify for the
tuition and fees deduction, enter “See attached” next to line 1
and attach a statement with the required information for each
additional student. Include the amounts from line 1, column (c),
for all students in the total you enter on line 2.

Column (c)
For each student, enter the amount of adjusted qualified
education expenses. The expenses must have been paid for the
student in the current year for academic periods beginning in
the current year but before April 1 of the following year.