$2500 College Credit on taxes!

[slim 1,530]

You are just annoyed because you spent the last year in the pokey and on probation instead of at an institution of higher learning.

Yeah, you're right. I wish I would've been wasting my (and yours) money on higher learning so I could NOT get a job that paid more money. Nothing like spending $9,000 a year on school to get a job making the same money I make now.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

How do you know that the OP won't be making more money as a result of his decision to go to college?

Anyone who went to college on financial aid or at a state university does so on the taxpayers dime, to a certain extent. Should only very rich people go to college?

[^_^ 5,021]

Nobody should go to college. Everyone should just play with their guns all day.

[slim 1,530]

How do you know that the OP won't be making more money as a result of his decision to go to college?

I don't. I know I wouldn't be.

Anyone who went to college on financial aid or at a state university does so on the taxpayers dime, to a certain extent. Should only very rich people go to college?

Only those who can pay for something, anything, should be doing it. This whole "I have the right to go to school" stuff is for the birds. If you're poor and want to go to school, work for it or go see the world for a little while on Uncle Sam's dime. He'll pay when you get back.

Nobody should go to college. Everyone should just play with their guns all day.

I'm all for that.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I just had to share my glee. Got all my paperwork and receipts together last night to do my taxes in TurboTax and I'm entering in the Tuition and book costs I paid for my son thinking it would be a nice deduction to help offset my $1250 tax debt when all of a sudden the Red Tax-Due amount spins down rapidly to a Refund!.

I had no idea this existed until I was doing my taxes so I had to look this up and it turns out that this was part of the Stimulus plan. Haven't I always said I loved this Plan?

Yep. And we get it for TWO people, Alla and Sergey! And it is not a credit that "zeros out" You get it back even if it is more than you paid in taxes. It was implemented by George Bush, This will be the thrid year we claim it. (it was extended from a 2 year credit to a four year credit)

[Amby 490]

Yep. And we get it for TWO people, Alla and Sergey! And it is not a credit that "zeros out" You get it back even if it is more than you paid in taxes. It was implemented by George Bush, This will be the thrid year we claim it. (it was extended from a 2 year credit to a four year credit)

you can only claim it for one person per family. you have to claim a different credit or deduction for the other person

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Another waste of govt. money.

For all of you so happy over this one, peep the "If you claimed the credit for a home you bought in 2008, you generally hvae to begin repaying it now" printed right on the front of the 1040 EZ instructions page.

Hope and Change, anyone?

Taxes are NOT government money. Taxes are OUR money. I am in favor of allowinf people to keep more of theur earnings. [particularly if they are using it for education. Virtually NO ONE on wlefare has a college education. The best path to independence from the government is an education. The more the merrier.

you can only claim it for one person per family. you have to claim a different credit or deduction for the other person

You are correct. We do use two different credits.

[^_^ 5,021]

How do you know that the OP won't be making more money as a result of his decision to go to college?

I don't. I know I wouldn't be.

How do you know?

Nobody should go to college. Everyone should just play with their guns all day.

I'm all for that.

I'm shocked.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I don't. I know I wouldn't be.

Only those who can pay for something, anything, should be doing it. This whole "I have the right to go to school" stuff is for the birds. If you're poor and want to go to school, work for it or go see the world for a little while on Uncle Sam's dime. He'll pay when you get back.

I paid for all my own college tuition, but public university is still funded to some extent, by the taxpayer. I haven't lost sight of that.

As someone who earns significantly more with my education that I would without it, as a taxpayer, I am okay with that. As a result of my state-sponsored (and tax deductible) education I have higher earnings for me, and contribute higher tax revenues for the state. Win win. Personally I would prefer that my taxes go to fund future doctors, nurses, scientists, etc, who might not be able to afford high tuition than keep truly talented, intelligent and ambitious people in minimum wage retail employment.

In a knowledge-based economy, a highly educated workforce is in our economic interests and a matter of national security. It's shocking (but really not surprising) people would argue otherwise.

[^_^ 5,021]

I paid for all my own college tuition, but public university is still funded to some extent, by the taxpayer. I haven't lost sight of that.

As someone who earns significantly more with my education that I would without it, as a taxpayer, I am okay with that. As a result of my state-sponsored (and tax deductible) education I have higher earnings for me, and contribute higher tax revenues for the state. Win win.

If you go to a state university as an in-state student, your tuition is being paid in part by the taxpayers of that state. If you then graduate and move to a different state and pay taxes to your new state, I don't see how the state that subsidized your education wins. Yes, there is a federal component to the cost as well and that is a win-win. But more often than not, state taxpayers don't get any real return on the money they spend on their state universities. The obvious exceptions to this are states that attract the brightest young people - California, New York, and a few others.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

If you go to a state university as an in-state student, your tuition is being paid in part by the taxpayers of that state. If you then graduate and move to a different state and pay taxes to your new state, I don't see how the state that subsidized your education wins. Yes, there is a federal component to the cost as well and that is a win-win. But more often than not, state taxpayers don't get any real return on the money they spend on their state universities. The obvious exceptions to this are states that attract the brightest young people - California, New York, and a few others.

Beeing from a state where education is BIG BUSINESS even when the vast majority of the students leave after graduation...I can say that the benefit to the state is huge revenue, sales taxes, increased property values, lots of good paying jobs among other things. More than 20% of the population of Burlington, VT are students. More than half the buildings and structures are devoted either to education or housing for students. subsidizng a place of higher education is no different (and probably better) than subsidizing a sports facility, for example.

Burlington would be a ghost town in the summer if it weren't for tourists escaping New York and Boston and Canadians coming here to avoid high sales taxes and get medical care.

The BEST kind of people for an economy are those that come, spend lots of money, and then leave. Students spend lots of money. we will gladly take their disposable income for our sidewalks and roads and let someone else pay for theirs.

[^_^ 5,021]

If you go to a state university as an in-state student, your tuition is being paid in part by the taxpayers of that state. If you then graduate and move to a different state and pay taxes to your new state...

The BEST kind of people for an economy are those that come, spend lots of money, and then leave. Students spend lots of money. we will gladly take their disposable income for our sidewalks and roads and let someone else pay for theirs.

The post you replied to was addressing students who go to state university in-state, not those who come from out of state.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

It's a trade-off though isn't it? For every young person that leaves a state like, say, Vermont, Michigan or Texas there is an out of state parent who never paid state income tax in those states that wants to send their child to one of the excellent state universities there.

[slim 1,530]

Taxes are OUR money.

Which is exactly why I'm against folks using my money for their education. It's mine.

How do you know?

By looking at the median income level of folks around here and crunching the numbers of what it would cost me to go to school and then any "extra" money I'd be making because of my education.

The fact of the matter is here in the midwest there are plenty of jobs making decent money without the necessity of a college education. To go to college wouldn't necessarily be a waste, but it would be a huge investment for the possibility of a slight return over many years.

Had I gone to school immediately out of high school, it probably would've been worth it. But now? Not a chance.

I paid for all my own college tuition

So if you could do it, why can't everyone?

[^_^ 5,021]

By looking at the median income level of folks around here...

OK, that's fair. Although I would suggest to you that most people who analyze the cost benefit of going to college don't build in the assumption that they will stay where they are. Moving to where your new skills can be put to better use is generally part of the calculation.