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Education Tax Credits and Deductions: English
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Podcast: Education Tax Credits and Deductions

IR-2012-46, April 11, 2012

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today reminded parents and students rushing to meet this year’s April 17 deadline to be sure and check out several college-related tax benefits before filing their 2011 returns.

Two tax credits and a tax deduction are available to taxpayers who paid tuition and other expenses for an eligible student during 2011. Because an eligible student can be the taxpayer, spouse or dependent, these benefits can, for example, help workers taking continuing education courses and people returning to school, as well as parents paying for their children’s college education. (more…)

Direct form the IRS:

The tax code provides a variety of tax incentives for families who are saving for, or already paying, higher education costs or are repaying student loans.

You may be able to claim a Hope and Lifetime Learning Credit for the qualified tuition and related expenses of the students in your family (i.e., you, your spouse, or an eligible dependent) who are enrolled in eligible educational institutions. Different rules apply to each credit. If you claim a Hope Scholarship Credit for a particular student, none of that student’s expenses for that year may be applied toward the Lifetime Learning Credit. (more…)

By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writerJanuary 7, 2010: 7:47 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The tax man has gotten a lot more aggressive in slapping liens on taxpayers who are seriously delinquent in their payments.

In fact, the Internal Revenue Service issued 475% more liens last year than it did in 1999.

But it hasn’t been doing so judiciously, which is causing unnecessary harm to some taxpayers and, ironically, to federal coffers, according to national taxpayer advocate Nina Olson.

“Taxpayers are being greatly harmed for very little benefit to the government,” Olson told CNNMoney. (more…)