<p>I am the only child of in my family, and will be attending UNC in the fall to begin my freshman year. My family has to pay about 16k to 18k per year for my education (instate). My question is this: if only my Dad works, and he makes about 90k a year, will the fact that I am going to college and paying tuition result in a tax deduction for him?</p>
<p>There are two major types of tax breaks for college education in the United States that I am aware of.</p>
<p>The first is the Tuition and Fees Deduction, which reduces the amount of your income that is taxable - or in your case, the taxable income of your parents, assuming you are considered a dependent child. The maximum deduction is $4,000 for income up to $65,000 (or $130,000 for joint filers), or up to $2,000 for income up to $80,000 (or $160,000 for joint filers).</p>
<p>If your parents file jointly and their total income is $90,000, they should be able to deduct $4,000 from their taxable income.</p>
<p>There is also the Hope and Lifelong learning tax credit, which actually gives you a credit back on your taxes for qualifying educational expenses if your income falls in a certain range. See this page for more on that: [Education</a> Credits - Hope and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits](<a href=“http://taxes.about.com/od/deductionscredits/qt/education.htm]Education”>The Tuition and Fees Tax Deduction)</p>
<p>For more details on all of this, check out this IRS document: <a href=“http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf[/url]”>http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf</a></p>
<p>First, as the child of a CPA, I would recommend that you talk to your accountant about this. There are two major tax breaks that relate to college education, which are already mentioned, but your accountant can make sure that there are no other relevant ones you qualify for and that you are going to get the biggest tax break possible. Ultimately, yes, it will. </p>
<p>I apologize to sound like a walking billboard for ‘Go visit your CPA and make sure they get paid’ (because yes, my parents are both CPAs and this will hopefully ensure that my parents can pay for college for me haha) but there’s too many people who DON’T get any financial counseling whatsoever and realize later down the line once they do get a CPA or accountant or something similar, that they qualified for a lot more tax breaks than they thought, or just that there’s something in their taxes that they never saw before.</p>