What are the Hope credit and lifetime learning credit?

There are two tax credits related to education expenses, allowing you to lower your tax burden in certain situations. These two credits are the Hope credit and the lifetime learning credit. While there are several differences between these two credits, each one essentially allows you to deduct a certain amount of money from your tax liability if you paid for post-secondary educational expenses, such as tuition, for yourself, your spouse, or your dependent.

While both credits can theoretically be claimed in any given year, you cannot claim both credits for the same student in the same year. You can calculate either credit by using Form 8863, and for more information, please see the topics listed to the left.