Question

Can my daughter claim the student loan interest deduction if she is a dependent on my return?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
March 1, 2020
1 reply
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Hi,

Here is my scenario. I'm claiming my daughter, who is a full time college student, as a dependent. I am am filing as married-filing jointly. My daughter received a 1098-E for student loan interest in her name.

In the TurboTax help I found:

"If the loan is in your child's name, then you can't deduct that interest on your own tax return even if your child is your dependent on your tax return. Your child can deduct that interest on their tax return."

On my daughter's return, when I answer yes to "Did you make student loan payments in 2019?" It states not eligible because of being claim on someone else's return as a dependent.

This contradicts the first statement plus I cannot find where being a dependent disqualifies her deduction.

What am I missing here?

X

xmasbaby0

Employee

Dependents cannot take education credits nor can they deduct student loan interest paid.

STUDENT LOAN INTEREST

Only the person whose name is on the student loan and who is legally obligated to pay the loan can deduct the student loan interest. If you did not sign or co-sign for the loan you cannot deduct the interest.

You cannot deduct student loan interest if you are being claimed as someone else’s dependent, or if you are filing as married filing separately.

The student loan interest deduction can reduce your taxable income by up to $2500

There is a phaseout for the Student loan interest deduction, which means the amount you can deduct gets reduced when your modified adjusted gross income hits certain income levels and is even eliminated at certain income levels -

• If your filing status is single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er), then the phaseout begins at $65,000 until $80,000, after which the deduction is eliminated entirely.

• If your filing status is married filing joint, then the phaseout beings at $130,000 until $160,000, after which the deduction is eliminated entirely.

Enter the interest you paid for your student loan by going to Federal>Deductions and Credits>Education>Student Loan Interest Paid in 2019 (Form 1098E)

Look on your 2019 Schedule 1 line 20 to see your student loan interest deduction

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**