How do I figure the education deduction recapture?
The education deduction, Form 8917, was available in years before 2021. You would only need to enter recapture of the deduction for years before 2021.
The education deduction recapture is the amount by which your earlier year's adjusted gross income would have been increased if you had used the corrected education expenses to figure the education deduction in that year. You'll need your prior year's Form 8917 and Form 1040.
You can refigure the education deduction by doing the following:
If there's no difference between the original and newly recalculated education deduction, then you don't need to recapture anything.
The education deduction recapture is the amount by which your earlier year's adjusted gross income would have been increased if you had used the corrected education expenses to figure the education deduction in that year. You'll need your prior year's Form 8917 and Form 1040.
You can refigure the education deduction by doing the following:
- Refigure the amount of your qualified education expenses for the earlier year by reducing the expenses that you originally entered in that year by the amount of the tuition refund or tax-free educational assistance that you received after filing that year's tax return.
- Enter the refigured education expenses on your prior year Form 8917, Line 1c.
- Use the refigured education expenses to recalculate your prior year education deduction on Form 8917.
- Enter the refigured education deduction on your prior year's Form 1040.
- Subtract the amount that was originally on your prior Form 1040 from the new amount that you entered on Form 1040. This is the amount of education deduction to recapture.
If there's no difference between the original and newly recalculated education deduction, then you don't need to recapture anything.
