Claiming tuition on my Wisconsin income taxes?

Question

Hi there, For the year I have so far paid just over $10,000 for tuition and books, I was wondering if I am able to claim this on my taxes. I claim myself and thats it. Im single, no kids and work full time and make about 12,000 a year. I am 20 years old and pay rent. i don't know if any of that info is important or not but I was wondering how much of the tuition i can claim and then how much I could expect to see back? Thanks so much!

Answer 1

First off, books are not tuition. Yes, I know they are horribly expensive, but that doesn't make them a qualified education expenses. (If the school supplies the books on the first day of class and itemizes them on the tuition bill, then yes.)

Second, *you* can go to revenue.wi.gov and look at the Wisconsin forms to see if there is any mention of tuition.

Answer 2

On your federal tax return, you can claim an education credit for a portion of your tuition and fees (NOT books). The amount you'd save would depend on a number of things you don't say in your question. It won't be anything close to most of what you paid though. If you are in your first two years of post-secondary schooling you might qualify for a Hope Credit, otherwise most likely for a Lifetime Learning Credit. Look at form 8863, Education Credits.