Tax Related Questions > Credits

Lifetime Learning Credit The Lifetime Learning Credit is one of two tax credits, along with the American Opportunity Credit, that help offset the costs of higher education. Y...
Qualified Education Expenses The various education credits available to students and those who pay for them are based on the money spent on qualified education expenses, but the d...
What Is an Eligible Educational Institution for Tax Purposes? Any college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution eligible to participate in a student loan program administe...
Additional Child Tax Credit - Form 8812 If the amount of your Child Tax Credit exceeds the amount of income tax you owe, you may be able to claim the Additional Child Tax Credit and get a re...
Telephone Excise Tax Refund The Telephone Excise Tax Refund (TETR) was implemented to return excise taxes collected on long-distance phone service between February 28, 2003 and A...
Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit - Form 8910 The Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit was enacted by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It offers a tax credit for qualified hybrid, fuel cell, alternative...
Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit - Form 5695 The Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit offers a tax credit for making energy efficient improvements to your principal home. Qualifying improvements ...
Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit - Form 5695 The Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit provides taxpayers with a nonrefundable tax credit for installing qualified residential alternative e...
Recovery Rebate Credit - Form 1040 2008 Line 70 The Recovery Rebate Credit is a one-time tax credit from 2009 for taxpayers who did not receive the full benefits of the economic stimulus payments fr...
First-Time Homebuyer Credit The first-time homebuyer tax credit is a special tax break available to qualified taxpayers who purchased a primary residence between April 9, 2008 an...
Child Tax Credit The Child Tax Credit allows you to reduce your income tax burden by up to $1,000 per qualifying child, depending on your income. A qualifying child m...
American Opportunity Tax Credit The American Opportunity Tax Credit helps students and parents pay for college expenses. In 2009 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, also kno...
Adoption Credit and Adoption Assistance Programs For taxpayers who adopted an eligible child, an adoption tax credit and exclusion are available to help compensate for qualified adoption expenses. Y...
Making Work Pay Tax Credit A component of the Stimulus, the Making Work Pay Credit was available for the 2009 and 2010 tax years. The refundable tax credit gave back to working ...
Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled - Schedule R Attach Schedule R to your 1040 or 1040A to claim the tax credit for the elderly or disabled. You may be eligible for the credit if you, or your spo...
Foreign Tax Credit - Form 1116 Individuals, estates, and trusts can file Form 1116 to claim the Foreign Tax Credit if they paid or accrued certain taxes to a foreign country or U.S....
Child and Dependent Care Expenses - Form 2441 Form 2441 determines the amount of the credit for child and dependent care expenses. You may be to claim the credit if you paid someone else to care f...
Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels - Form 4136 Form 4136 is for claiming a credit for certain nontaxable uses or sales of fuel. You can also use the form to claim the alternative fuel credit, blend...
Mortgage Interest Credit - Form 8396 Form 8396 is used to calculate the mortgage interest credit for a given tax year as well as any carryforward to a future year. The mortgage interest ...
Low-Income Housing Credit - Form 8586 Form 8586 allows owners of qualified residential buildings in low-income housing projects to claim the low-income housing credit, which is taken over ...
Qualified Plug-in Electric and Electric Vehicle Credit - Form 8834 Form 8834 allows you to claim the qualified plug-in electric vehicle credit and any electric vehicle passive activity credit allowed for that tax year...
Qualified Adoption Expenses - Form 8839 Form 8839 is used to claim the adoption credit and an exclusion of any employer-provided adoption benefits. Both credit and exclusion apply to the exp...
Information to Claim Earned Income Credit After Disallowance - Form 8862 Form 8862 allows those taxpayers who had their Earned Income Credit (EIC) reduced or disallowed after 1996 to claim the credit once again if they now ...
Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contributions - Form 8880 Form 8880 allows you to claim the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, also known as the saver’s credit. The credit was designed to promote savin...
Hope Credit The Hope Credit is a tax credit available to help students, or their parents and spouses, pay for tuition and related expenses for the first two years...
What types of credits can I get as a student? Students and the parents of students might qualify for the refundable American Opportunity Tax Credit, an expanded version of the Hope Credit, which a...
I had financial aid for college. Is there a credit or deduction I should file for? Students with financial aid may be able to take the Student Loan Interest Deduction, which lets you deduct the interest paid on student loans. The ded...
Health Coverage Tax Credit - Form 8885 The Health Coverage Tax Credit is available for individuals who qualify and their families to help with their health insurance costs. The HCTC pay...
Earned Income Credit The Earned Income Tax Credit is a refundable credit that helps low- and moderate-income workers keep more of what they earn. When the amount of the cr...
What Is a Tax Credit? A tax credit is a special tax break put in place by Congress and the President that reduces the total amount of tax you owe the government. In certai...
Earned Income Credit - Qualifying Child Information - Schedule EIC After you have calculated your Earned Income Credit (EIC), attach Schedule EIC to your 1040 or 1040A to provide the IRS information about your qualify...
What is the difference between a refundable and a nonrefundable credit? A refundable credit is one that allows you to get money back in the form of a refund if the size of the credit is greater than your tax liability. Ref...
Nontaxable Combat Pay Election Members of the military can elect to have their nontaxable combat pay included as part of their overall income towards the earned income tax credit (E...
What types of tax credits are available in my state? State and local governments offer a raft of state or locality specific tax credits aimed at both qualifying individuals and small and medium businesse...
What tax breaks can a dependent get me? For every dependent you have, you are allowed to claim a dependency exemption, which decreases the amount of income on which you are taxed. For 2011 t...