How do I claim a different credit for my higher education deduction than the one Turbotax suggests?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 27, 2021
1 reply
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Turbotax claims I'll get the best deduction taking the American Opportunity Credit, but when looking at my other options it looks like I'll get more than double the deduction using Tuition Deduction, but Turbotax won't let me use anything other than it's recommendation.

TurboTax Self Employed Online

Hal_Al

Employee

The the American Opportunity Credit (AOC) is a direct reduction in your tax liability. That $2500 credit reduces your tax by $2500.

The Tuition and Fees deduction (TFD) is only a reduction in income before tax is calculated. The $4000 deduction is only worth $480 to you in the 12% tax bracket.

You can check it by typing letme in the search box in TT and it will give you the option to select TFD. Try it, if you get better results, leave it, otherwise change it back.

Type letme (no space between let & me) in the search box. When the dropdown list appears, click on letme rather than "jump to letme'. On the next drop down, click on the "jump to letme” link.