Use Tax Form 8863: Education Credits as a stand alone tax form calculator to quickly calculate specific amounts for your 2025 tax return. Alternatively you can use one of our Combined Federal and State Tax Estimator to quickly calculate your salary, tax and take home pay.
Education Credits Name(s) shown on return Your social security number ⚠ Complete a separate Part III on page 2 for each student for whom you're claiming either credit before you complete Parts I and II. Part I. Refundable American Opportunity Credit 1 After completing Part III for each student, enter the total of all amounts from all Parts III, line 30 1 2 Enter: $180000 if married filing jointly; $90000 if single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) 2 3 Enter the amount from Form 1040, line 38, or Form 1040A, line 22. If you're filing Form 2555, 2555-EZ, or 4563, or you're excluding income from Puerto Rico, see Pub. 970 for the amount to enter 3 4 Subtract line 3 from line 2. If zero or less, stop; you can't take any education credit 4 5 Enter: $20000 if married filing jointly; $10000 if single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) 5 6 If line 4 is: 6 7 Multiply line 1 by line 6. Caution: If you were under age 24 at the end of the year and meet the conditions described in the instructions, you can't take the refundable American opportunity credit; skip line 8, enter the amount from line 7 on line 9, and check this box ▸ 7 8 Refundable American opportunity credit. Multiply line 7 by 40% (0.4). Enter the amount here and on Form 1040, line 68, or Form 1040A, line 44. Then go to line 9 below 8 9 Subtract line 8 from line 7. Enter here and on line 2 of the Credit Limit Worksheet (see instructions) 9 10 After completing Part III for each student, enter the total of all amounts from all Parts III, line 31. If zero, skip lines 11 through 17, enter -0- on line 18, and go to line 19 10 11 Enter the smaller of line 10 or $10000 11 12 Multiply line 11 by 20% (0.2) 12 13 Enter: $131000 if married filing jointly; $65000 if single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) 13 14 Enter the amount from Form 1040, line 38, or Form 1040A, line 22. If you're filing Form 2555, 2555-EZ, or 4563, or you're excluding income from Puerto Rico, see Pub. 970 for the amount to enter 14 15 Subtract line 14 from line 13. If zero or less, skip lines 16 and 17, enter -0- on line 18, and go to line 19 15 16 Enter: $20000 if married filing jointly; $10000 if single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) 16 17 If line 15 is: 17 18 Multiply line 12 by line 17. Enter here and on line 1 of the Credit Limit Worksheet (see instructions) 18 19 Nonrefundable education credits. Enter the amount from line 7 of the Credit Limit Worksheet (see instructions) here and on Form 1040, line 50, or Form 1040A, line 33 19 ⚠ Complete Part III for each student for whom you're claiming either the American opportunity credit or lifetime learning credit. Use additional copies of page 2 as needed for each student. Part III. Student and Educational Institution Information 20 Student name (as shown on page 1 of your tax return) 21 Student social security number (as shown on page 1 of your tax return) 22 Educational institution information (see instructions) a. Name of first educational institution b. Name of second educational institution (if any) (1) Address. Number and street (or P.O. box). City, town or post office, state, and ZIP code. If a foreign address, see instructions. (1) Address. Number and street (or P.O. box). City, town or post office, state, and ZIP code. If a foreign address, see instructions. (2) Did the student receive Form 1098-T from this institution for 2016? Yes No (2) Did the student receive Form 1098-T from this institution for 2016? Yes No (3) Did the student receive Form 1098-T from this institution for 2015 with box 2 filled in and box 7 checked? Yes No (3) Did the student receive Form 1098-T from this institution for 2015 with box 2 filled in and box 7 checked? Yes No If you checked “No” in both (2) and (3), skip (4). If you checked “No” in both (2) and (3), skip (4). (4) If you checked “Yes” in (2) or (3), enter the institution's federal identification number (from Form 1098-T). (4) If you checked “Yes” in (2) or (3), enter the institution's federal identification number (from Form 1098-T). 23 Has the Hope Scholarship Credit or American opportunity credit been claimed for this student for any 4 tax years before 2016? Yes — Stop! Go to line 31 for this student. No — Go to line 24. 24 Was the student enrolled at least half-time for at least one academic period that began or is treated as having begun in 2016 at an eligible educational institution in a program leading towards a postsecondary degree, certificate, or other recognized postsecondary educational credential? See instructions. Yes — Go to line 25. No — Stop! Go to line 31 for this student. 25 Did the student complete the first 4 years of postsecondary education before 2016? See instructions. Yes — Stop! Go to line 31 for this student. No — Go to line 26. 26 Was the student convicted, before the end of 2016, of a felony for possession or distribution of a controlled substance? Yes — Stop! Go to line 31 for this student. No — Complete lines 27 through 30 for this student. ⚠ You can't take the American opportunity credit and the lifetime learning credit for the same student in the same year. If you complete lines 27 through 30 for this student, don't complete line 31. American Opportunity Credit 27 Adjusted qualified education expenses (see instructions). Don't enter more than $4,000 27 28 Subtract $2000 from line 27. If zero or less, enter -0- 28 29 Multiply line 28 by 25% (0.25) 29 30 If line 28 is zero, enter the amount from line 27. Otherwise, add $2000 to the amount on line 29 and enter the result. Skip line 31. Include the total of all amounts from all Parts III, line 30, on Part I, line 1 30 Lifetime Learning Credit 31 Adjusted qualified education expenses (see instructions). Include the total of all amounts from all Parts III, line 31, on Part II, line 10 31