How to report interest paid on private student loans

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
April 5, 2025
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I have private student loans, which I paid interest on all year. I had a woman who did my taxes last year that assured me I would get tax breaks for this, but she moved. When I look this up, including on Intuit's website, it says yes, you can: "you can deduct interest on both federal and private loans", and that the deduction is limited to $2,500. For private loans, everything I've found says this should go in "part II" of Form 1040 Schedule 1.

However, when doing the "Deductions & Credit"section on TurboTax, it only offers the option for Form 1098-E for paid student loan interest - which only applies to Federal loans. I can not find any other option that lets me fill in the deduction for my private student loans, despite their website saying I can. What am I missing? Can anyone tell me where to put this in? I'd really rather not leave it out if it would give me a tax break. Thanks all!

AmyC

Employee

You do want the deduction and you are in the right spot. Just ignore that it says 1098-E. Provided you qualify, enter your interest up to $2,500 (not the principal paid back).