Maine Credit for Educational Opportunity - Individuals

Credit for Educational Opportunity - Individuals
Form 15 EOTC
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2021 Educational Opportunity Tax Credit Worksheet
for Maine Resident & Part-year Resident Individuals
36 M.R.S. § 5217-D

*2102207*

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IMPORTANT NOTE: Use this worksheet if you paid education loan payments directly to the lender. If you are claiming the credit
for more than one degree, complete a separate worksheet for each degree. If your employer also made student loan payments on
your behalf, you must complete and attach the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit - Employer/Employee Affidavit. See instructions.
Note: If this is the first year you are claiming this credit, you must include a complete copy of your college transcript, proof of the
educational loans that qualify for the credit and proof of the educational loan payments you paid directly to the lender during the tax year.
Additionally, Maine Revenue Services may request additional documentation supporting your claim in subsequent tax years.
Name of Taxpayer (Graduate)

Graduate’s Social Security Number

D	If Box A is checked, also check here if
	
this is a degree in Science, Technology,
	
Engineering or Mathematics (“STEM”).
	
See instructions.

Lines A - C. Check the type of degree 	 A	Bachelor’s
you received. Check only one box.
	
	
B	Associate
		
F	

E	

C	Graduate

Date you graduated:

College or university from which you obtained the degree:

G	 State where the college or university is located:	

(Enter the two-digit state abbreviation)

H	 Name of degree as it appears on your diploma:
	
(Example: Bachelor of Science, Computer Science)
I	
	

Check this box if your employer also made student loan payments directly to the lender on your behalf. If checked,
complete and enclose the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit - Employer/Employee Affidavit. See instructions.

1.	 Eligible payments. Enter the amount from the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit - Loan
	
Payment Schedule, line 4 or if box I is checked, the Employer/Employee Affidavit, line 5....... 1.

		.00

Proration factor. If your education loans include amounts borrowed for credit hours earned toward your
degree before January 1, 2008, complete lines 2, 3 and 4. Otherwise, enter the amount from line 1 on line 5.

2.	 Enter the number of credit hours you earned toward your degree after December 31, 2007...... 2.
3.	 Enter the total number of credit hours earned for your degree. (Do not enter more than the
	
total number of credit hours required to earn the degree.)........................................................3.
4.	 Divide line 2 by line 3. (Round the result to four decimal places. Do not enter more than 1.0000.) ........ 4.
5.	 If you completed lines 2, 3 and 4, multiply line 1 by line 4. Otherwise, enter the amount
	
from line 1................................................................................................................................5.
	
	a)	 Refundable credit. If either box B or box D above is checked, enter the amount
		 from line 5. Also enter this amount on Form 1040ME, Schedule A, line 4.......................5a.

		
	.
	

	.00

		.00

b)	 If neither box B nor box D above is checked, enter the amount from line 5....................5b.

		.00

6.	 Enter the carryforward of unused credit amounts from prior tax years....................................6.

		.00

	

7.	 Nonrefundable credit. Add lines 5b and 6. Enter the total here and on Form 1040ME,
	
Schedule A, line 13..................................................................................................................7.

		.00

Note: MRS may request additional information supporting the credit claimed before processing the return.

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Revised: December 2021

2021 Educational Opportunity Tax Credit - Loan Payment Schedule
for line 1 of the 2021 Educational Opportunity Tax Credit Worksheet

Your name: _____________________________________________________ 	

Social security number: ___________________

Complete this schedule to determine the amount of eligible education loan payment amounts that may be used to calculate your credit.
Include only eligible education loan amounts. See instructions.
If you were a part-year resident during the tax year, enter the dates you were a Maine resident:
	from_____________________ 	 to_______________________ .
1.	 Enter the number of months* during the tax year in which you met all of the following
	
(see instructions):...................................................................................................................................1.		__________________
	
a)	 were a Maine resident,
	b)	
worked in Maine (see instructions) or were deployed for military service in the U.S. Armed Forces,
		 or worked at least part-time on a vessel at sea, and
	
c)	 paid eligible education loan payments due, in forbearance, or in deferment status, directly to the lender.
		 Include the number of months for which a lump-sum payment was made. See instructions.
	
*Count any part of a month as an entire month
2.	
	
	
	

Consolidated loans. Are the eligible education loans you obtained to earn the degree
consolidated with other education loans?............................................................................................... 2.	
If yes, you must prorate your eligible loan payments. Complete lines 2a through 2c below.
If no enter 1.0000 on line 2c below.

	

Note: If your consolidated loan includes noneducational loans, you do not qualify for the educational opportunity tax credit.

	
a)	
		
	
b)	
	
c)	

Yes	No

Enter the amount of education loans obtained to earn the degree listed on page 1, line H that
are included in the total consolidated loan.....................................................................................2a.		__________________
Enter the total consolidated loan amount.......................................................................................2b.		__________________
Divide line 2a by line 2b..................................................................................................................2c.		___ . ___ ___ ___ ___

ELIGIBLE EDUCATION LOAN PAYMENTS paid directly to the lender
3.	 For each month included on line 1 above, enter in Column A the benchmark loan payment amount (see instructions); enter in
Column B the sum of the loan payment amount(s) due each month multiplied by line 2c; enter in Column C the sum of your
eligible education loan payment amount(s) paid each month directly to the lender multiplied by line 2c. Do not enter loan
payment amounts refunded to you by the lender during the tax year.
		

	

		
		
		
		
MONTH DUE	

COLUMN A	
FOR EACH MONTH	
INCLUDED ON LINE 1,	
ENTER THE	
BENCHMARK 	
LOAN PAYMENT	

a)	January...................................... 	$	
_______________
b)	February..................................... 	$	
_______________
c)	March......................................... 	$	
_______________
d)	April............................................ 	$	
_______________
e)	May............................................ 	$	
_______________
f)	June........................................... 	$	
_______________
g)	July............................................. 	$	
_______________
h)	August........................................ 	$	
_______________
i)	September.................................. 	$	
_______________
j)	October...................................... 	$	
_______________
k)	November................................... 	$	
_______________
l)	December................................... 	$	
_______________
Total: (add rows a through l for
each column)..................................	3A	 $	 _______________

COLUMN B	
FOR EACH MONTH	
INCLUDED ON LINE 1,	
ENTER THE TOTAL	
LOAN PAYMENT	
AMOUNT(S) DUE*	

	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	

COLUMN C			
FOR EACH MONTH	
INCLUDED ON LINE 1,	
ENTER THE TOTAL	
LOAN PAYMENT 	
AMOUNT(S) PAID	

	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________
	$	
_______________

3B	$	_______________ 	

3C	$	_______________

	

*If your loans were in forbearance or deferment during the year, see the Column B instructions on page 4.

4.	
	
	
	

TOTAL ELIGIBLE EDUCATION LOAN PAYMENTS. Enter line 3A, 3B, or 3C, whichever is smallest.
Except, if box I on page 1 is checked, enter on this line the amount from the Educational Opportunity
Tax Credit - Employer/Employee Affidavit, line 5. Also enter this amount on the Educational Opportunity
Tax Credit Worksheet, line 1. ....................................................................................................................... 4	$	_______________
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2021 Educational Opportunity Tax Credit Worksheet for
Maine Resident & Part-year Resident Individuals - Instructions
This worksheet and the related instructions are for individual taxpayers who have made eligible education loan payments.
Employers eligible to claim the related credit must complete the Credit for Educational Opportunity Worksheet for Employers.
IMPORTANT: If your employer directly paid to the lender all of your education loan payments, you DO NOT QUALIFY for this credit.
Do not complete or file this worksheet.
If your employer directly paid to the lender part of your education loan payments, you may qualify for a credit. You must complete
and enclose with this Worksheet the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit - Employer/Employee Affidavit available at www.maine.gov/
revenue/tax-return-forms (select Worksheets for Tax Credits).
The educational opportunity tax credit is a component of the Job Creation through Educational Opportunity program, which began in
2008. The purpose of the program is to provide an income tax credit for Maine resident taxpayers who are making eligible education loan
payments on loans obtained to earn: (1) an undergraduate degree (associate or bachelor’s) from an accredited Maine college or university
prior to 2016; (2) an associate or bachelor’s degree after 2015 from an accredited Maine or non-Maine college or university; or, (3) a
graduate degree after 2015 from an accredited Maine college or university, and who, after graduation, live, work and pay taxes in Maine.
Eligible education loan payments are payments made directly to the lender by a qualifying graduate for public and private education
loans that are part of the financial aid package.
●	

Only eligible education loan payments made during the part of the tax year in which you were a resident of Maine working in Maine
qualify for the credit. See the “Worked in Maine” note below.

●	

Payments in excess of the required loan payment are not eligible for the credit, except payments made while eligible loans are in
forbearance or deferment status. See Maine Rule 812 at www.maine.gov/revenue/publications/rules for more information.

●	

Payments on a refinanced eligible education loan qualify for the credit as long as the refinanced loan remains separate from any
other debt incurred, except for other educational loans.

Note: Loan payment(s) refunded by the lender are not considered to have been paid for purposes of the educational opportunity tax
credit. If you have filed a Maine individual income tax return and claimed the educational opportunity tax credit based on educational
loan payments that have been refunded, you must file an amended Maine individual income tax return to reduce the amount of the credit
claimed.
The monthly payment amount eligible for the credit is limited to an upper cap called the benchmark loan payment. For example, if you
graduated in 2021, earned all credit hours for a bachelor’s degree after 2007 and made monthly payments in 2021 of $380 for qualified
loans, the amount you can use to calculate the credit is $347, the applicable monthly benchmark loan payment for individuals graduating
in 2021 (see instructions on page 4 for line 3). Using this example, if you made regularly scheduled monthly payments of $380 through
the entire year and worked in Maine, your credit would be $347 x 12 = $4,164.
For tax year 2021, a qualifying graduate is one who:
●	

Obtained an associate or bachelor’s degree after 2007 from an accredited Maine community college, college or university; or

●	

Obtained an associate or bachelor’s degree after 2015 from a non-Maine accredited community college, college or university; or

●	

Obtained a graduate degree after 2015 from an accredited Maine college or university; and

●	

After graduation, is a Maine resident (as defined in 36 M.R.S. § 5217-D(1)(H)) and during the tax year worked at least part-time
(at least 16 hours/week) in Maine*, was deployed for military service in the United States Armed Forces, including the National
Guard and the Reserves of the United States Armed Forces or was employed at least part-time on a vessel at sea.
*Note: “Worked in Maine” includes an employee who has worked outside Maine for up to 3 months during the Maine residency
period of the tax year. An employee who worked at least part-time in Maine for any part of a month is considered to have
worked in Maine for that entire month.

If both spouses are eligible, both may claim the credit on a married-joint return. The credit may not reduce your Maine income tax due to
less than zero, except that the credit is refundable if your degree is an associate degree or if your bachelor’s degree is a degree in science,
technology, engineering or mathematics (“STEM”). Unused nonrefundable credit amounts may be carried forward for up to ten years.
A self-employed person who is an eligible graduate may be eligible for the credit for educational opportunity for individuals. The selfemployed person may also qualify for the credit for employers if the self-employed person had employees during the tax year. For more
information on the employer credit, see the Credit for Educational Opportunity Worksheet for Employers.
SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
Note that if you are claiming the credit for more than one degree you earned, you must complete a separate Educational
Opportunity Tax Credit Worksheet for each degree. If consolidated, your loan amounts obtained for subsequent degrees earned
must be prorated to reflect the ratio of additional credit hours necessary to earn the subsequent degree to the total number of
credit hours required for the subsequent degree.
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2021 Educational Opportunity Tax Credit Worksheet for
Maine Resident & Part-year Resident Individuals - Instructions, continued
First, complete the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit - Loan Payment Schedule. (See page 2 of the Worksheet.)
Line 1.	 Enter the number of months* during the tax year in which you met all of the following:
a)	 Were a resident of Maine;
b) 	 Worked in Maine (see “Worked in Maine” note on page 3) or were a Maine resident deployed for military service in the
U.S. Armed Forces or were a Maine resident employed at least part-time on a vessel at sea; and
c)	 paid eligible education loan payments due, in forbearance, or in deferment status, directly to the lender. Include the
number of months for which a lump-sum payment was made. See the instructions for eligible education loan payments
on page 3.
*Count any part of a month as an entire month.
Example, if your tax year is the 2021 calendar year, you were a Maine resident for the entire year, you graduated in May 2021,
you began making monthly eligible education loan payments beginning July 2021, and you started working in Maine on August
1, 2021, you would enter ‘5’ on line 1. In this example, there were only five months during the year (August – December) that
you met all of the requirements.
Individuals that did not make any eligible student loan payments during the tax year do not qualify for the credit.
Individuals who were unemployed during the entire Maine residency period do not qualify for the credit.
Line 2. Consolidated loans. Note, if your consolidated loan includes noneducational loans, you do not qualify for the educational opportunity
tax credit. You may include only loans obtained for courses required to earn the degree listed on the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit
Worksheet, line H. If your educational loans for this degree are consolidated with other educational loans, complete lines 2a through 2c to
calculate the ratio of loans eligible for the credit. If you earned another degree that qualifies for the credit, complete a separate worksheet
to calculate the additional credit.
Line 3. In Column A, for each month, enter the appropriate monthly benchmark loan payment from the table below.
	
	

If you graduated in:	

	
2008 	
	
2009	
	2010	
	2011	
	2012	
	2013	
	2014	
	2015	
	2016	
	2017	
	2018	
	2019	
	2020	
	2021	

The benchmark loan payment is
Associate degree	
Bachelor’s degree	
*	
*	
$72.00	
$68.00	
$65.00	
$65.00		
$66.00		
$70.00	
$70.00	
$68.00	
$74.00	
$77.00	
$77.00	
$71.00	

Graduate degree

*
* 		
$343.00
$344.00
$342.00		
$356.00
$363.00
$377.00
$373.00	
$325.00
$364.00	
$317.00
$377.00	
$328.00
$367.00	
$338.00
$367.00	
$341.00
$347.00	
$324.00

* If you graduated in 2008 or 2009, include a copy of a statement from your school’s financial aid office stating the benchmark
loan payment for the year in which you graduated.
In Column B, for each month, enter the monthly eligible education loan payment due for each month during the tax year, or that would
have been due but for forbearance or deferment*, multiplied by the ratio on line 2c, if applicable. The loan payment due is most likely the
amount on your monthly payment voucher or electronic bill. Enter the total monthly amount due even if part of it was paid by someone
else. Enter only the required amount due; exclude any accelerated loan payments.
* The amount considered due during forbearance or deferment is equal to the average student loan payment due during the months of
the taxable year in which the loans were not in forbearance or deferment. If this amount cannot be determined, use the benchmark loan
payment amount. Also see Maine Rule 812.
In Column C, for each month during which you made a payment on an eligible education loan, enter the amount you paid during the tax
year multiplied by the ratio on line 2c, if applicable. Do not include amounts paid by someone else.
Note: Do not enter loan payment amounts refunded to you by the lender during the tax year. If loan payment(s) are refunded to you by
the lender in a subsequent tax year, you must file an amended Maine income tax return to remove those payments from the calculation
of the credit.
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2021 Educational Opportunity Tax Credit Worksheet for
Maine Resident & Part-year Resident Individuals - Instructions, continued
Example: You obtained a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and your eligible monthly loan amount due is $350 for each month during
2021. Based on the chart above, your monthly benchmark loan payment is $347. From January through March you paid $350
each month. During April, you decided to pay the amount due for the remainder of the year ($3,150, $350 x 9). Column A, enter
$347 in each row a through l; Column B, enter $350 in each row a through l; and Column C, enter $350 in each row a, b, and c
(January, February, and March) and enter $3,150 in row d (April).
Note – Columns B and C: Upon review of the credit claimed, Maine Revenue Services may ask you to provide documentation from each
lender showing the monthly payments due and the monthly payments made during your 2021 tax year.
Line 4. Enter the smallest of lines 3A, 3B, and 3C except, if your employer also paid student loan payments directly to the lender on your
behalf, you must complete and attach the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit - Employer/Employee Affidavit available at www.maine.gov/
revenue/tax-return-forms to calculate the amount for line 4. This is the amount allowed for your credit.
Next, complete the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit Worksheet as instructed below:
Degree information. Check box A, B, or C to indicate the type of degree you received. If you have earned more than one degree,
complete a separate Worksheet for each degree.
Line D. Check this box if you checked box A and your bachelor’s degree is an approved degree in science, technology, engineering or
mathematics (“STEM”). See Maine Rule 812 at www.maine.gov/revenue/publications/rules for more information.
Line I. Check this box if your employer made student loan payments directly to the lender on your behalf. If this box is checked, you must
complete and enclose the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit - Employer/Employee Affidavit with this worksheet.
Line 1. Enter on line 1 the amount from the Educational Opportunity Tax Credit - Loan Payment Schedule, line 4 (see instructions on
page 4). If your employer made student loan payments directly to the lender on your behalf, enclose the Affidavit and the Educational
Opportunity Tax Credit Worksheet with your Maine return.
If your education loans include amounts borrowed for credit hours earned towards your degree before 2008, complete lines 2,
3 and 4. Otherwise, enter the amount from line 1 on line 5.
Line 2. Enter the number of credit hours earned toward your degree after 2007.
Line 3. Enter the total number of credit hours earned toward your degree.
Line 4. Divide line 2 by line 3. This is the portion of the credit hours earned after 2007 and is the basis for your credit.
Line 5. Current year credit. Multiply line 1 by the ratio on line 4. If you started school after 2007, enter on line 5 the amount from line 1.
This is the gross amount of the credit for eligible payments you made during your 2021 tax year.
Line 5a. If either box B or box D is checked, enter the amount from Line 5 on line 5a. Also enter this amount on Form 1040ME, Schedule
A, line 4. The credit on this line is refundable.
Line 5b. If neither box B nor box D is checked, enter the amount from Line 5 on line 5b.
Line 6. Carryforward of unused credit from prior years. Enter the amount of any unused credit* from prior tax years that does not
exceed the 10-year carryforward limit. If this is the first year you are claiming the credit, enter zero.
*Unused credit may include eligible nonrefundable credits claimed for tax years 2009 through 2012 for all associate and bachelor’s
degrees; or, for tax years 2013 through 2015, for non-STEM associate and bachelor’s degrees; or, for tax years after 2015, for nonSTEM bachelor’s degrees and all graduate degrees to the extent the credit exceeded your tax due for the same tax year.
Line 7. Add line 5b and line 6. The credit on this line is not refundable; however, you may carryforward unused portions of the tax credit
for up to 10 years from the tax year the credit amount was generated.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION. In the first year a taxpayer claims the credit, MRS requires the following documents be included with
your Maine individual income tax return (Form 1040ME) and completed Educational Opportunity Tax Credit Worksheet:
● 	 A complete copy of the college transcript that lists the name of the degree, classes completed and date obtained;
● 	 Documentation of the educational loans that qualify for the credit, including the monthly student loan payment required to be made;
and,
● 	 The actual monthly student loan payment amounts paid during the tax year.
Once these facts are supported in the first year, documentation on these items will generally not again be required by MRS in future years.
However, documentation may be requested after the first year related to actual loan payments made during the year and on employment
status.
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