The definition of qualified education expenses for the tuition and fees deduction is expanded for students attending an eligible educational institution in Midwestern disaster areas in the states of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. See Table 3-2 near the end of chapter 3 for a list of counties. See Students in Midwestern disaster areas, under Qualified Education Expenses, later in this chapter for more information.

You may be able to deduct qualified education expenses paid during the year for yourself, your spouse, or your dependent. You cannot claim this deduction if your filing status is married filing separately or if another person can claim an exemption for you as a dependent on his or her tax return. The qualified expenses must be for higher education, as explained later under Qualified Education Expenses.

The tuition and fees deduction can reduce the amount of your income subject to tax by up to $4,000.

This deduction is taken as an adjustment to income. This means you can claim this deduction even if you do not itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). This deduction may be beneficial to you if you cannot take either the Hope or lifetime learning credit because your income is too high.

Table 6-1 summarizes the features of the tuition and fees deduction.

The following rules will help you determine if you can claim the tuition and fees deduction.

Generally, you can claim the tuition and fees deduction if all three of the following requirements are met.

1. You pay qualified education expenses of higher education.
2. You pay the education expenses for an eligible student.
3. The eligible student is yourself, your spouse, or your dependent for whom you claim an exemption on your tax return.

"Qualified Education Expenses" are defined on the next page. "Eligible students" are defined later under Who Is an Eligible Student. A "dependent for whom you claim an exemption" is defined later under Who Can Claim a Dependent's Expenses.

You cannot claim the tuition and fees deduction if any of the following apply.

• Your filing status is married filing separately.
• Another person can claim an exemption for you as a dependent on his or her tax return. You cannot take the deduction even if the other person does not actually claim that exemption.
• Your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is more than $80,000 ($160,000 if filing a joint return).
• You were a nonresident alien for any part of the year and did not elect to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes. More information on nonresident aliens can be found in Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.
• You or anyone else claims a Hope or lifetime learning credit in 2008 with respect to expenses of the student for whom the qualified education expenses were paid.