Tax Benefits for Higher Education
The Dept of Education created https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/tax-benefits to provide students, parents, counselors, and others with general guidance to federal education-related tax benefits. The website includes basic information about the American Opportunity Credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit, and other tax benefits that may apply to your situation.
To help ease the financial burden for South Carolina college students and their families, the South Carolina General Assembly has created an income tax credit for tuition paid to South Carolina colleges and universities. You must file a Form SC1040 to claim the credit. The short form, Form SC1040A, cannot be used to claim the credit. When preparing your South Carolina income tax return, you will need to complete Form I-319 Tuition Tax Credit, which will be included with all state individual income tax booklets. Visit the South Carolina Tuition Tax Credit website for more information.
You may also want to review IRS Publication 970. This publication explains tax benefits that may be available to you if you are saving for or paying education costs for yourself, or in many cases, another student who is a member of your immediate family. Most benefits apply only to higher education. IRS Publication 970 also discusses the income tax treatment of various types of educational assistance you may receive here at CofC: basically 'do I need to pay taxes or not'. Included are discussions of:
- Scholarships
- Fellowships
- Need-based education grants, such as a Pell Grant
- Qualified tuition reductions.
Many types of educational assistance are tax free if they meet the requirements discussed in IRS Publication 970. Special rules apply to U.S. citizens and resident aliens who have received scholarships or fellowships for studying, teaching, or researching abroad. For information about these rules, see Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad.