Form 8917 (Rev. 1-2020)
Page 3
You may receive Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, from the
institution reporting either payments received in the current year
or amounts billed in the current year. However, the amounts
may be different from the amount you paid (or are treated as
having paid). In completing Form 8917, use only the amounts
you actually paid (plus any amounts you’re treated as having
paid) in the current year (reduced, as necessary, as described in
Adjusted Qualified Education Expenses, later). See Pub. 970 for
more information on Form 1098-T.
Qualified education expenses paid directly to the institution
by someone other than you or the student are treated as paid to
the student and then paid by the student to the institution.
Academic Period
An academic period is any quarter, semester, trimester, or any
other period of study as reasonably determined by an eligible
educational institution. If an eligible educational institution uses
credit hours or clock hours and doesn’t have academic terms,
each payment period may be treated as an academic period.
Prepaid Expenses
Qualified education expenses paid in the current year for an
academic period that begins in the first 3 months of the
following year can be used in figuring the tuition and fees
deduction for the current year only.
Example 2. Qualified education expenses paid in 2018 for an
academic period that begins in the first 3 months of 2019 can
be used in figuring the tuition and fees deduction for 2018 only.
See Academic Period, earlier.
Example 3. If you pay $2,000 in December 2019 for qualified
tuition for the 2020 winter quarter that begins in January 2020,
you can use that $2,000 in figuring the tuition and fees
deduction for 2019 only (if you meet all the other requirements).
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CAUTION
You can’t use any amount you paid in the previous or
future year to figure the qualified education expenses you
use to figure your current year tuition and fees
deduction.
Example 4. You can’t use any amount you paid in 2017 or
2019 to figure the qualified deduction expenses you use to
figure your 2018 tuition and fees deduction.
Adjusted Qualified Education Expenses
For each student, reduce the qualified education expenses paid
by or on behalf of that student under the following rules. The
result is the amount of adjusted qualified education expenses
for each student.
Tax-free educational assistance. For tax-free educational
assistance received in the current year, reduce the qualified
educational expenses for each academic period by the amount
of tax-free educational assistance allocable to that academic
period. See Academic Period, earlier.
Tax-free educational assistance includes:
1. The tax-free part of any scholarship or fellowship grant
(including Pell grants);
2. The tax-free part of any employer-provided educational
assistance;
3. Veterans’ educational assistance; and
4. Any other educational assistance that is excludable from
gross income (tax free), other than as a gift, bequest, devise, or
inheritance.
TIP
You may be able to increase the combined value of your
tuition and fees deduction and certain educational
assistance if the student includes some or all of the
educational assistance in income in the year it is received. For
details, see Pub. 970.
Generally, any scholarship or fellowship grant is treated as
tax-free educational assistance. However, a scholarship or
fellowship grant isn’t treated as tax-free educational assistance
to the extent the student includes it in gross income (the student
may or may not be required to file a tax return) for the year the
scholarship or fellowship grant is received and either:
• The scholarship or fellowship grant (or any part of it) must be
applied (by its terms) to expenses (such as room and board)
other than qualified education expenses as defined in Qualified
education expenses in Pub. 970; or
• The scholarship or fellowship grant (or any part of it) may be
applied (by its terms) to expenses (such as room and board)
other than qualified education expenses as defined in Qualified
education expenses in Pub. 970.
Tax-free educational assistance treated as a refund. Some
tax-free educational assistance received after the current year
may be treated as a refund of qualified education expenses paid
in the current year. This tax-free educational assistance is any
tax-free educational assistance received by you or anyone else
after the current year for qualified education expenses paid on
behalf of a student in the current year (or attributable to
enrollment at an eligible educational institution during the
current year).
If this tax-free educational assistance is received after the
current year but before you file your current year income tax
return, see Refunds received after the current year but before
your income tax return is filed, later. If this tax-free educational
assistance is received after the current year and after you file
your current year income tax return, see Refunds received after
the current year and after your income tax return is filed, later.
Refunds. A refund of qualified education expenses may reduce
adjusted qualified education expenses for the tax year or may
require you to include some or all of the refund in your gross
income for the year the refund is received. See Pub. 970 for
more information. Some tax-free educational assistance
received after the current year may be treated as a refund. See
Tax-free educational assistance treated as a refund, earlier.
Refunds received in the current year. For each student,
figure the adjusted qualified education expenses for the current
year by adding all the qualified education expenses paid in the
current year and subtracting any refunds of those expenses
received from the eligible educational institution during the
current year.
Refunds received after the current year but before your
income tax return is filed. If anyone receives a refund after the
current year of qualified education expenses you paid on behalf
of a student in the current year and the refund is received before
you file your current year income tax return, reduce the amount
of qualified education expenses for the current year by the
amount of the refund.
Refunds received after the current year and after your
income tax return is filed. If anyone receives a refund after the
current year of qualified education expenses you paid on behalf
of a student in the current year and the refund is received after
you file your current year income tax return, you may need to
include some or all of the refund in your gross income for the
year the refund is received. See Pub. 970 for more information.
Coordination with Coverdell education savings accounts
and qualified tuition programs. Reduce your qualified
education expenses by any qualified education expenses used
to figure the exclusion from gross income of (a) interest received
under an education savings bond program, or (b) any
distribution from a Coverdell education savings account or
qualified tuition program (QTP). For a QTP, this applies only to
the amount of tax-free earnings that were distributed, not to the
recovery of contributions to the program.
