Form 8917 Tuition and Fees Deduction

Form

8917

OMB No. 1545-0074

Tuition and Fees Deduction
䊳

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

䊳

2009

See Instructions.

Attachment
Sequence No. 163

Attach to Form 1040 or Form 1040A.

Name(s) shown on return

Your social security number

You cannot 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.
CAUTION

Before you begin:

1

✔ To see if you qualify for this deduction, see Who Can Take the Deduction in the instructions below.
✔ If you file Form 1040, figure any write-in adjustments to be entered on the dotted line next to Form
1040, line 36. See the 2009 Form 1040 instructions for line 36.

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

Last name

(c) Qualified
expenses (see
instructions)

2

2

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

3

Enter the amount from Form 1040, line 22, or Form 1040A, line 15

4

Enter the total from either:
● Form 1040, lines 23 through 33, plus any write-in adjustments
entered on the dotted line next to Form 1040, line 36, or
● Form 1040A, lines 16 through 18

5

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

3

4

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

5

*If you are filing Form 2555, 2555-EZ, or 4563, or you are excluding income from Puerto Rico,
see Effect of the Amount of Your Income on the Amount of Your Deduction in Pub. 970, chapter
7, 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.

其

6

Also enter this amount on Form 1040, line 34, or Form 1040A, line 19.
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.

General Instructions
Purpose of Form
Use Form 8917 to figure and take the deduction for tuition and
fees expenses paid in 2009.
This deduction is based on qualified education expenses
paid to an eligible postsecondary educational institution. See
What Expenses Qualify, on page 2, for more information.
You may be able to take the American opportunity
TIP credit, Hope credit, or lifetime learning credit for
your education expenses instead of the tuition and
fees deduction. Figure your tax both ways and
choose the one that gives you the lower tax. See Form 8863,
Education Credits, and Pub. 970, Tax Benefits for Education,
for more information about these credits.

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see page 3.

Who Can Take the Deduction
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 2009 for academic
periods beginning in 2009 and the first 3 months of 2010.
Qualified education expenses must be reduced by
any expenses paid directly or indirectly using
tax-free educational assistance. See Tax-free
CAUTION educational assistance and refunds of qualified
education expenses on page 2.
Generally, in order to claim the deduction for qualified
education expenses for a dependent, you must have paid the
expenses in 2009 and must claim an exemption for the
student as a dependent on your 2009 tax return (line 6c of
Form 1040 or 1040A). For additional information, see chapter
7 of Pub. 970.

Cat. No. 37728P

Form

8917

(2009)

Form 8917 (2009)

You cannot 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 cannot take the
deduction even if the other person does not 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
did not 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 or anyone else claims an American opportunity, Hope,
or lifetime learning credit (Form 8863) in 2009 with respect to
expenses of the student for whom the qualified education
expenses were paid. However, a state tax credit will not
disqualify you from claiming a tuition and fees deduction.

What Expenses Qualify
Qualified education expenses. Generally, qualified
education expenses are amounts paid in 2009 for tuition and
fees required for the student’s enrollment or attendance at an
eligible educational institution. It does not matter whether the
expenses were paid in cash, by check, by credit card, or
with borrowed funds.
Qualified education expenses do not include amounts paid
for:
● Room and board, insurance, medical expenses (including
student health fees), transportation, or other similar personal,
living, or family expenses.
● Course-related books, supplies, equipment, and
nonacademic activities, except for fees and expenses
required to be paid to the institution as a condition of
enrollment or attendance.
● 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.
You should receive Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, from
the college or university reporting either payments received in
box 1 or amounts billed in box 2. However, the amounts in
boxes 1 and 2 of Form 1098-T may be different from what
you actually paid. On Form 8917, line 1, enter only the
amounts you paid in 2009 for qualified expenses.
If you or the student take a deduction for higher education
expenses, such as on Schedule A or Schedule C (Form
1040), you cannot use those expenses when figuring your
tuition and fees deduction.
You cannot take a tuition and fees deduction for qualified
higher education expenses used to figure the exclusion from
gross income of (a) interest received under an education
savings bond program, or (b) distributions from a Coverdell
education savings account (ESA) or qualified tuition program
(QTP).
Eligible educational institution. An eligible educational
institution is any college, university, vocational school, or
other postsecondary educational institution eligible to
participate in a student aid program administered by the
Department of Education. It includes virtually all accredited
public, nonprofit, and proprietary (privately owned

Page

2

profit-making) postsecondary institutions. The educational
institution should be able to tell you if it is an eligible
educational institution.
Certain educational institutions located outside the United
States also participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s
Federal Student Aid (FSA) programs.
Tax-free educational assistance and refunds of qualified
education expenses. Tax-free educational assistance
includes a tax-free scholarship or Pell grant or tax-free
employer-provided educational assistance. See Pub. 970,
chapter 7, for specific information.
You must reduce the total of your qualified education
expenses by any tax-free educational assistance and by any
refunds of your expenses. If the refund or tax-free assistance
is received in the same year in which the expenses were paid
or in the following year before you file your tax return, reduce
your qualified education expenses by the amount received
and figure your tuition and fees deduction using the reduced
amount of qualified expenses. If the refund or tax-free
assistance is received after you file your return for the year in
which the expenses were paid, you must figure the amount
by which your tuition and fees deduction would have been
reduced if the refund or tax-free assistance had been
received in the year for which you claimed the tuition and
fees deduction. Include that amount as additional income for
the year the refund or tax-free assistance was received.
Example. You paid $8,000 tuition and fees in December
2008, and your child began college in January 2009. You
filed your 2008 tax return on February 7, 2009, and claimed a
tuition and fees deduction of $4,000. After you filed your
return, your child dropped two courses and you received a
refund of $5,600. You must refigure your 2008 tuition and
fees deduction using $2,400 of qualified expenses instead of
$8,000. The refigured deduction is $2,400. You must include
the difference of $1,600 on your 2009 Form 1040, line 21.
You cannot file Form 1040A.
Students in Midwestern disaster areas. The definition of
qualified education expenses is expanded for students
attending an eligible educational institution in the Midwestern
disaster areas in the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana,
Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. See Table 4-2 in
Pub. 970, chapter 4, for the eligible counties.
In addition to tuition and fees required for enrollment or
attendance at an eligible educational institution, qualified
education expenses for students in Midwestern disaster
areas include the following.
1. Books, supplies, and equipment required for enrollment
or attendance at an eligible educational institution.
2. For a special needs student, expenses that are
necessary for that person’s enrollment or attendance at an
eligible educational institution.
3. For a student who is at least a half-time student, the
reasonable costs of room and board, but only to the extent
that the costs are not more than the greater of the following
two amounts.
a. The allowance for room and board, as determined by the
eligible educational institution, that was included in the cost
of attendance (for federal financial aid purposes) for a
particular academic period and living arrangement of the
student.
b. The actual amount charged if the student is residing in
housing owned or operated by the eligible educational
institution.

Form 8917 (2009)

Page

You will need to contact the eligible educational institution
for qualified room and board costs.

Qualified Education Expenses Worksheet for Column (c)
(Do a separate worksheet for each student)

Who Is an Eligible Student

1. Total qualified education expenses

3

2. Less adjustments:
For purposes of the tuition and fees deduction, an eligible
student is a student who was enrolled in one or more courses
at an eligible educational institution (as defined under Qualified
education expenses, on page 2). The student must have either
a high school diploma or a General Educational Development
(GED) credential.

More Information
See Pub. 970, chapter 7, for more information about this
deduction.

a. Tax-free educational assistance
b. Refunds of qualified education
expenses
c. Other adjustments (see Pub. 970,
chapter 7)
3. Total adjustments (add lines 2a through 2c)
4. Qualified education expenses (subtract line 3
from line 1). Enter here and on Form 8917, line
1, column (c)

Specific Instructions
Line 1
Complete columns (a) through (c) on line 1 for each student
who qualifies for and 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 qualified education
expenses remaining after reduction by certain tax-free
amounts and refunds, as explained earlier. The expenses must
have been paid for the student in 2009 for academic periods
beginning after 2008 but before April 1, 2010.
You can use the worksheet that follows to figure the
correct amount to enter in column (c).

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the information
on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue laws of the
United States. You are required to give us the information. We
need it to ensure that you are complying with these laws and
to allow us to figure and collect the right amount of tax.
You are not required to provide the information requested
on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
unless the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books
or records relating to a form or its instructions must be
retained as long as their contents may become material in
the administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally, tax
returns and return information are confidential, as required by
section 6103.
The average time and expenses required to complete and
file this form will vary depending on individual circumstances.
For the estimated averages, see the instructions for your
income tax return.
If you have suggestions for making this form simpler, we
would be happy to hear from you. See the instructions for
your income tax return.