<p>I didn't want to post this in the Financial Aid forum in case some people don't go to that one. Turbo Tax is not optimizing the best way to handle tuition in some cases. When there is a choice between a credit and a deduction, it usually gives the credit even though the deduction would be more beneficial. I suggest looking it over before filing.</p>
<p>“When there is a choice between a credit and a deduction, it usually gives the credit even though the deduction would be more beneficial.”</p>
<p>Less of an issue than it was a couple of years ago before the credit phase-out started at much lower AGI, but still worth looking at … especially for those living where state income taxes are based on AGI. (Yes America, it is possible to pay more in State income tax than Federal income tax.)</p>
<p>So true^^^. In my family we all seem to end up paying more State taxes than federal.</p>
<p>So I know that it would be more beneficial to take the tuition deduction rather that the Lifetime Learning credit. But Turbo tax takes the deduction. Anybody know how to MAKE it take the deduction instead?</p>
<p>I seriously hate this program</p>
<p>I actually had almost the opposite situation: TurboTax initially gave us the deduction rather than the American Opportunity Credit (AOC). For us, it was very clear that the AOC was much better. </p>
<p>I used the community help feature, and figured out that in the background section, on the page that asked about DS’s college status, I had checked off that he was a student in a four-year college, but had neglected to also check off that he was a full-time student. (Or maybe it was vice versa. The point is, I had thought I was just supposed to check off one thing, when in fact I was supposed to check “all that apply.”) Checking off both items that applied to DS’s situation changed the result; TurboTax gave us the AOC instead of the deduction. Again, for us, that was a much better result.</p>