{"id":8206,"date":"2017-02-03T07:30:51","date_gmt":"2017-02-03T13:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.abodo.com\/blog\/?p=8206"},"modified":"2021-01-05T09:22:35","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T15:22:35","slug":"tax-credits-every-college-student-young-professional-should-look-for","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/tax-credits-every-college-student-young-professional-should-look-for\/","title":{"rendered":"Tax Credits Every College Student &#038; Young Professional Should Look For"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For a certain kind of person, tax season is the most wonderful time of year, a time filled with visions of tax refunds and the hypothetical spending sprees they\u2019ll allow. For others it\u2019s a time of newfound austerity, hopelessness, and regret. Depending on your financial situation, you can end up owing more taxes than you paid in all year \u2014 ouch. Fortunately, the government realizes how significantly financial situations can change from year to year and helps the taxpayer out with a system of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/credits-deductions-for-individuals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">credits and deductions<\/a>. Tax <strong>credits<\/strong> are subtracted from the amount of tax you owe to the gov, while tax <strong>deductions<\/strong> are subtracted from your taxable income. Both result in you keeping (or getting) a little more money.<\/p>\n<p>The lives of college students and recent grads are necessarily in flux, with tuition payments turning into loan and rent payments, plus the added stresses of realizing you\u2019ll probably need to save up a cool <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/money\/columnist\/powell\/2016\/03\/29\/millennials-new-retirement-number-18-million-more\/81329246\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">$1.8 million for retirement<\/a>. So this year when you\u2019re preparing your taxes, use these payments to your advantage and look for these tax benefits.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/12JgIV6zAkYFbi\" width=\"650\" height=\"270\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>American Opportunity Tax Credit<\/h3>\n<p>This credit formerly existed as the Hope Scholarship Credit and is currently set to expire in December 2017. The AOTC is more extensive than the Hope credit, covering the first four years of college instead of the first two. You can claim the expenses for tuition and required fees, including course books and supplies, to reduce your tax liability by up to $2,500. Even if you don\u2019t owe anything in tax, up to 40% of the credit is refundable, so you can receive that money anyway. You can\u2019t claim this credit, however, if you make more than $80,000 or if you plan to claim the Tuition and Fees tax deduction.<\/p>\n<h3>Lifetime Learning Credit<\/h3>\n<p>Along the same lines as the AOTC, the Lifetime Learning Credit is worth up to $2,000 per tax return for those who earn less than $55,000 per year. If you make between $55,000 and $65,000, you could also receive a reduced credit.<\/p>\n<h3>Tuition and Fees Deduction<\/h3>\n<p>Claiming your tuition and associated fees can reduce your taxable income by up to $4,000. The AOTC might still give you a more direct benefit, but if you don\u2019t qualify for that credit, the tuition and fees deduction will still help out. (There are also several other education-related deductions you could potentially claim.)<\/p>\n<h3>Student Loan Interest Deduction<\/h3>\n<p>Recent grads, you\u2019re probably missing those college tax credits dearly. But there\u2019s something for you too: You can claim the amount of interest you\u2019ve paid on your student loans through the year, up to $2,500. So the more you\u2019ve paid on your loans, the more you get back \u2014 a nice incentive to start chipping away at that intimidating balance. The only catch is that your modified adjusted gross income must be below $80,000.<\/p>\n<h3>Retirement Savings Contribution Credit<\/h3>\n<p>Not many of us qualify for this one for long, so keep it in mind and use it when you can. The Retirement Savings Contribution Credit can help offset up to the first $2,000 you save for retirement \u2014 and the sooner you start, the better off you\u2019ll be. It only applies, however, if your adjusted gross income is $30,000 or less.<\/p>\n<h3>State Rent Credits<\/h3>\n<p>Credits specifically for renters aren\u2019t available at a national level, but dozens of states have taken it on themselves to provide renter credits and deductions, including Wisconsin, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, and many others. Check on your state\u2019s revenue website to make sure you get any credits you deserve.<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/l0NhX25NibM6LmrPW\" width=\"650\" height=\"361\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re the type to drop off your documents with an accountant, use one of the various tax filing websites, or grab a stack of forms and fill them out by hand, it\u2019s a good idea to know ahead of time what credits and deductions you can claim. With the above in mind, make sure you have your taxes filed by April 17, 2017 \u2014 the earlier you file, the quicker you get your return.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For a certain kind of person, tax season is the most wonderful time of year, a time filled with visions of tax refunds and the hypothetical spending sprees they\u2019ll allow. For others it\u2019s a time &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Tax Credits Every College Student &#038; Young Professional Should Look For\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/tax-credits-every-college-student-young-professional-should-look-for\/#more-8206\" aria-label=\"More on Tax Credits Every College Student &#038; Young Professional Should Look For\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":8210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[149],"tags":[107,106,109,108],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8206"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8206"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20431,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8206\/revisions\/20431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rentable.co\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}