Reecy Aresty has been a financial advisor since 1977, and is founder and president of College Assistance, Inc., located in Boca Raton, Florida. He is the author of "How To Pay For College Without Going Broke," an invaluable, critically acclaimed, parent/student manual, (updated from its previous edition, "Getting Into College And Paying for It!"). Arguably the most revealing book ever written on college admissions and financial aid, it is also the only book of its kind available in Spanish. For the past 28 years, Reecy has helped thousands of families send their kids to the college of their choice for less than they ever dreamed possible. For more information on admissions & financial aid, and to checkout the best college book on the market today, please visit: Paylessforcollege.com
Thanks to a last minute effort by Congress in December, President Bush extended the Tuition and Fees Deduction for one more year. However, while the opportunity has been viewed as a yearlong Christmas present for some of the 4.7 million families with students in college, for many – all that glitter won’t produce any gold!
As luck would have it, the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, which revived the Tuition and Fees Deduction, has three roadblocks obstructing taxpayers:
1. For those who are eligible to take the deduction, there is nothing on the 1040 indicating how or where to take it;
2. Those unaware of it, and most families are, will miss the opportunity entirely; and
3. Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers who previously took or will take the deduction would save substantially more by taking an Education Credit instead!
For a taxpayer to actually take the deduction, they must physically write in a ‘T’ on Line 35 of the 1040, and if they are also claiming a deduction for ‘Domestic production activities,’ they must also write in a ‘B’ and “attach a breakdown showing the amounts claimed for each deduction.
According to an IRS spokesman, Publication 600, which explains in detail how to take the Sales Tax Deduction, will be mailed to the 3.5 million households who took it last year. However, this document makes no mention of how to take the deduction for educator expenses (on Line 23 write in ‘E’), and noticeably absent is any reference to the subject in question.
As usual, misinformation is rampant as demonstrated by this quote from an AP story: “The IRS said the deduction for tuition and fees can be claimed on Form 1040, line 35, ‘Domestic production activities deduction,’ by entering ‘T’ on the dotted line to the left of that line.”
Regrettably, there are no dotted lines for Line 35 – they’re on Line 34 and Line 36! And with 4.7 million families affected, there is no way to guarantee that everyone who is entitled to a deduction will actually receive it. Only time will tell, and families will have three years to amend returns if this information reaches them in time…
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