Form 8917 Tuition and Fees Deduction

Form

8917

OMB No. 1545-0074

Tuition and Fees Deduction

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

▶

2017

▶ Attach to Form 1040 or Form 1040A.
Go to www.irs.gov/Form8917 for the latest information.

Attachment
Sequence No.
Your social security number

Name(s) shown on return

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CAUTION

60

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.

Before you begin:

✔ 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 2017 Form 1040 instructions for line 36.

1

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

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

Last name

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:

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(c) Adjusted qualified
expenses (see
instructions)

2

3

• 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

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4

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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
6, 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.

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6

Also enter this amount on Form 1040, line 34, or Form 1040A, line 19.
For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see your tax return instructions.

Cat. No. 37728P

Form 8917 (2017)

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Form 8917 (2017)

General Instructions
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.

Future Developments
For the latest information about developments related to Form
8917 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they
were published, go to www.irs.gov/Form8917.

Reminders
Form 1098-T requirement. To be eligible to claim the tuition
and fees deduction, American opportunity credit, or the lifetime
earning credit, the law requires a taxpayer (or a dependent) to
have received a Form 1098-T from an eligible educational
institution.
However, for tax year 2017, a taxpayer may claim one of these
education benefits if the student does not receive a Form 1098-T
because the student’s educational institution is not required to
send a Form 1098-T to the student under existing rules (for
example, if the student is a nonresident alien, has qualified
education expenses paid entirely with scholarships, or has
qualified education expenses paid under a formal billing
arrangement). If a student’s educational institution is not required
to provide a Form 1098-T to the student, a taxpayer may claim
one of these education benefits without a Form 1098-T if the
taxpayer otherwise qualifies, can demonstrate that the taxpayer
(or a dependent) was enrolled at an eligible educational
institution, and can substantiate the payment of qualified tuition
and related expenses.

Purpose of Form
Use Form 8917 to figure and take the deduction for tuition and
fees expenses paid in 2017.
This deduction is based on adjusted qualified education
expenses paid to an eligible educational institution
(postsecondary). See Qualified Education Expenses, later, for
more information.
You may be able to take the American opportunity credit
TIP or lifetime learning credit for your education expenses
instead of the tuition and fees deduction. See Form
8863, Education Credits, and Pub. 970, Tax Benefits for
Education, for more information about these credits.

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 2017 for academic periods beginning in
2017 or beginning in the first 3 months of 2018.
Generally, in order to claim the deduction for education
expenses for a dependent, you must have paid the expenses in
2017 and must claim an exemption for the student as a
dependent on your 2017 tax return (line 6c of Form 1040 or
1040A). For additional information, see chapter 6 of Pub. 970.
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 cannot claim a tuition and fees deduction for any student
if you or anyone else claims an American opportunity or lifetime
learning credit (Form 8863) in 2017 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.

Qualified Education Expenses
Generally, qualified education expenses are amounts paid in
2017 for tuition and fees required for the student’s enrollment or
attendance at an eligible educational institution. Required fees
include amounts for books, supplies, and equipment used in a
course of study if required to be paid to the institution as a
condition of enrollment or attendance. It does not matter
whether the expenses were paid in cash, by check, by credit or
debit card, or with borrowed funds.
Qualified education expenses include nonacademic fees,
such as student activity fees, athletic fees, or other expenses
unrelated to the academic course of instruction, only if the fee
must be paid to the institution as a condition of enrollment or
attendance. However, fees for personal expenses (described
below) are never qualified education expenses.
Qualified education expenses do not include amounts paid
for the following.
• Personal expenses. This means room and board, insurance,
medical expenses (including student health fees), transportation,
and other similar personal, living, or family expenses.
• 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 or helps the
student acquire or improve job skills.
Qualified education expenses do not include any expenses for
which you take any other deduction, such as on Schedule A
(Form 1040) or Schedule C (Form 1040).
You may receive Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, from the
institution reporting either payments received in 2017 (box 1) or
amounts billed in 2017 (box 2). However, the amount in box 1 or
2 of Form 1098-T may be different from the amount you paid (or
are treated as having paid). In completing Form 8917, use only
the amounts you actually paid (plus any amounts you are
treated as having paid) in 2017 (reduced, as necessary, as
described in Adjusted Qualified Education Expenses, later). See
chapter 6 of Pub. 970 for more information on Form 1098-T.
Qualified education expenses paid directly to the institution
by someone other than you or the student are treated as paid to
the student and then paid by the student to the institution.

Academic Period
An academic period is any quarter, semester, trimester, or any
other period of study as reasonably determined by an eligible
educational institution. If an eligible educational institution uses
credit hours or clock hours and does not have academic terms,
each payment period may be treated as an academic period.

Prepaid Expenses
Qualified education expenses paid in 2017 for an academic
period that begins in the first 3 months of 2018 can be used in
figuring the tuition and fees deduction for 2017 only. See
Academic Period, earlier. For example, if you pay $2,000 in
December 2017 for qualified tuition for the 2018 winter quarter
that begins in January 2018, you can use that $2,000 in figuring
the tuition and fees deduction for 2017 only (if you meet all the
other requirements).

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Form 8917 (2017)

You cannot use any amount you paid in 2016 or 2018 to
! figure the qualified education expenses you use to figure
▲
your 2017 tuition and fees deduction.
CAUTION

Adjusted Qualified Education Expenses
For each student, reduce the qualified education expenses paid
by or on behalf of that student under the following rules. The
result is the amount of adjusted qualified education expenses
for each student.
Tax-free educational assistance. For tax-free educational
assistance received in 2017, reduce the qualified educational
expenses for each academic period by the amount of tax-free
educational assistance allocable to that academic period. See
Academic Period, earlier.
Tax-free educational assistance includes:
1. The tax-free part of any scholarship or fellowship grant
(including Pell grants);
2. The tax-free part of any employer-provided educational
assistance;
3. Veterans’ educational assistance; and
4. Any other educational assistance that is excludable from
gross income (tax free), other than as a gift, bequest, devise, or
inheritance.
You may be able to increase the combined value of your
tuition and fees deduction and certain educational
assistance if the student includes some or all of the
educational assistance in income in the year it is received. For
details, see Adjustments to Qualified Education Expenses in
chapter 6 of Pub. 970.
Generally, any scholarship or fellowship grant is treated as
tax-free educational assistance. However, a scholarship or
fellowship grant is not treated as tax-free educational assistance
to the extent the student includes it in gross income (the student
may or may not be required to file a tax return) for the year the
scholarship or fellowship grant is received and either:
• The scholarship or fellowship grant (or any part of it) must be
applied (by its terms) to expenses (such as room and board)
other than qualified education expenses as defined in Qualified
education expenses in Pub. 970, chapter 1; or
• The scholarship or fellowship grant (or any part of it) may be
applied (by its terms) to expenses (such as room and board)
other than qualified education expenses as defined in Qualified
education expenses in Pub. 970, chapter 1.
Tax-free educational assistance treated as a refund. Some
tax-free educational assistance received after 2017 may be
treated as a refund of qualified education expenses paid in
2017. This tax-free educational assistance is any tax-free
educational assistance received by you or anyone else after
2017 for qualified education expenses paid on behalf of a
student in 2017 (or attributable to enrollment at an eligible
educational institution during 2017).
If this tax-free educational assistance is received after 2017
but before you file your 2017 income tax return, see Refunds
received after 2017 but before your income tax return is filed,
later. If this tax-free educational assistance is received after
2017 and after you file your 2017 income tax return, see
Refunds received after 2017 and after your income tax return is
filed, later.
Refunds. A refund of qualified education expenses may reduce
adjusted qualified education expenses for the tax year or may
require you to include some or all of the refund in your gross
income for the year the refund is received. See chapter 6 of
Pub. 970 for more information. Some tax-free educational
assistance received after 2017 may be treated as a refund. See
Tax-free educational assistance treated as a refund, earlier.
TIP

Refunds received in 2017. For each student, figure the
adjusted qualified education expenses for 2017 by adding all
the qualified education expenses paid in 2017 and subtracting
any refunds of those expenses received from the eligible
educational institution during 2017.
Refunds received after 2017 but before your income tax
return is filed. If anyone receives a refund after 2017 of
qualified education expenses you paid on behalf of a student in
2017 and the refund is received before you file your 2017
income tax return, reduce the amount of qualified education
expenses for 2017 by the amount of the refund.
Refunds received after 2017 and after your income tax
return is filed. If anyone receives a refund after 2017 of
qualified education expenses you paid on behalf of a student in
2017 and the refund is received after you file your 2017 income
tax return, you may need to include some or all of the refund in
your gross income for the year the refund is received. See
chapter 6 of Pub. 970 for more information.
Coordination with Coverdell education savings accounts
and qualified tuition programs. Reduce your qualified
education expenses by any qualified education expenses used
to figure the exclusion from gross income of (a) interest received
under an education savings bond program, or (b) any
distribution from a Coverdell education savings account or
qualified tuition program (QTP). For a QTP, this applies only to
the amount of tax-free earnings that were distributed, not to the
recovery of contributions to the program.

Eligible Educational Institution
An eligible educational institution is generally any accredited
public, nonprofit, or proprietary (private) college, university,
vocational school, or other postsecondary institution. Also, the
institution must be eligible to participate in a student aid
program administered by the Department of Education. Virtually
all accredited postsecondary institutions meet this definition.
An eligible educational institution also includes certain
educational institutions located outside the United States that
are eligible to participate in a student aid program administered
by the Department of Education.
TIP

The educational institution should be able to tell you if it
is an eligible institution.

Additional Information
See Pub. 970, chapter 6, for more information about the tuition
and fees deduction.

Specific Instructions
Line 1
Complete columns (a) through (c) on line 1 for each student 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 adjusted qualified
education expenses. The expenses must have been paid for the
student in 2017 for academic periods beginning after 2016 but
before April 1, 2018.