Lifetime Learning Credit calculator, 2026
This works out one number from the Lifetime Learning Credit figures published for 2026. Every amount it uses is below, with the document it was read from. What you enter is your own: this site has no way to check it, and the answer it produces is not a published figure.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Education credits - AOTC and LLC (IRS)Verified 2026-08-29
How it is worked out
The published rate applied to your expenses up to the published expenses limit, and never more than the published maximum, rounded to the nearest cent. Expenses above the limit add nothing.
It uses Rate on qualified expenses, 20% and Qualified expenses limit, $10,000 and Maximum credit, $2,000, published above.
Figures in this colour are computed from the amounts above. They are not published figures and no document states them.
Work it out
The live calculator needs JavaScript. The table below covers common amounts and is computed the same way.
Worked out for common amounts
| Qualified education expenses on this return | Result |
|---|---|
| 1,000 | $200 |
| 5,000 | $1,000 |
| 10,000 | $2,000 |
| 20,000 | $2,000 |
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Education credits - AOTC and LLC (IRS)
- Maximum credit
LLC allows a credit up to $2,000 per return.
- Rate on qualified expenses
LLC is 20% of the first $10,000 of qualified expenses paid for all students claimed on the return.
- Qualified expenses limit
LLC is 20% of the first $10,000 of qualified expenses paid for all students claimed on the return.
Every 2026 Lifetime Learning Credit figure · Lifetime Learning Credit in every year · Every calculator on this site