Education Credits and Deductions - Married Filing Separately
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Per IRS Publication 970 Tax Benefits for Education:

You can't claim the American opportunity credit for 2020 if any of the following apply:

  • Your filing status is Married Filing Separate.
  • You are claimed as a dependent on another person's tax return, such as your parent's return.
  • Your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is $90,000 or more ($180,000 or more if married filing jointly).
  • You (or your spouse) were a nonresident alien for any part of 2020 and the nonresident alien didn't 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 weren’t issued an SSN (or ITIN) by the due date of your 2020 return (including extensions). You can't claim the American Opportunity Credit on either your original or an amended 2020 return. Also, you can't claim this credit on your original or an amended 2020 return for a student who wasn’t issued an SSN, ATIN, or ITIN by the due date of your return (including extensions). If an ATIN or ITIN is applied for on or before the due date of a 2020 return (including extensions) and the IRS issues an ATIN or ITIN as a result of the application, the IRS will consider the ATIN or ITIN as issued on or before the due date of the return.

Note. You also can't claim the Tuition and Fees Deduction if your filing status is Married Filing Separate.

Note that any link in the information above is updated each year automatically and will take you to the most recent version of the document at the time it is accessed.