{"id":"irs-lifetime-learning-credit","name":"Lifetime Learning Credit","provider":"Internal Revenue Service","entitlement_type":"government-benefit","entitlement_type_label":"Government benefit","entitlement_type_context":{"definition":"A government-funded or administered benefit, service, coverage program, assistance program, or public access route.","domain":"public-benefits","archetype":"direct-program","agent_instruction":"Identify the administering jurisdiction and disclose income, household, age, disability, immigration, residence, renewal, fee, and capacity rules that apply."},"summary":"A nonrefundable federal tax credit for qualified tuition and required fees for undergraduate, graduate, professional-degree, and eligible job-skills courses, with no limit on the number of years it may be claimed.","benefit":{"description":"Up to 20% of the first $10,000 of qualified expenses, for a maximum credit of $2,000 per tax return, limited by tax liability.","estimated_value_usd":null},"discovery":{"focus":"public-service","has_estimated_dollar_value":false},"access":{"relationships":["Eligible postsecondary student or job-skills learner","Taxpayer entitled to claim an eligible learner"],"requirements":"The taxpayer, spouse, or dependent must take one or more qualifying courses at an eligible educational institution. Modified adjusted-gross-income limits, taxpayer and student identification numbers, Form 1098-T rules and exceptions, dependency rules, and prohibitions on claiming the same expenses for multiple education benefits apply.","activation":"Obtain Form 1098-T and records of qualified expenses and tax-free educational assistance, complete Form 8863, and claim the credit on the federal return.","cost_basis":"no-cost","cost_basis_label":"No-cost access","cost_basis_context":{"classification":"free","definition":"The core benefit has no required payment, purchase, deposit, paid membership, or pre-existing paid-product relationship under the captured terms.","agent_instruction":"Still disclose optional add-ons, transportation, parking, replacement charges, taxes, capacity, and eligibility conditions found in fees or requirements.","variation_patterns":null,"does_not_mean":null},"fees":"There is no fee to claim the credit, but it is nonrefundable, applies once per return rather than per student, phases out with income, and does not itself make tuition free. The same expense cannot be used for both this credit and another excluded or credited education benefit.","personalized":false,"regions":["US","Eligible educational institutions, including some outside the United States"],"expires":null},"status":"verified","last_checked":"2026-08-04","claim_url":"https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/education-credits-aotc-and-llc","source_url":"https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/education-credits-aotc-and-llc","source":{"primary_url":"https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/education-credits-aotc-and-llc","evidence":[{"source":"Internal Revenue Service","url":"https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/individuals/education-credits-aotc-and-llc","kind":"provider","checked_at":"2026-08-04"}]},"parent":null,"coverage":{"level":"national","family":"tax-and-financial-help","jurisdiction":"United States","maturity":"direct"},"web_url":"/benefits/irs-lifetime-learning-credit","taxonomy":{"version":"1.0","url":"/api/v1/taxonomy"}}