<prompt> Human: Hey everyone! I apologize for the very basic question. Im a new medical school graduate and I paid 16,000 in tuition in 2014. My gross pay is 52k. This would make me eligible for the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, correct? In researching this credit, I keep reading that it is nonrefundable but Im not exactly sure what this means. Right now about 17 of my gross pay is withheld for taxes. Usually I would think of my April tax refund as.. well.. just that, a refund. How does this terminology nonrefundable play into it? Sorry if this is a very confusing question - its because Im very confused by the terminology! If I am having the proper percentage of my gross paychecks withheld, does that mean I cant get the 2000 tax credit when it comes time in April to get my tax refund? Or are the words tax refund and nonrefundable being used in different ways somehow?  <response>: Nonrefundable means you cant use it to achieve a negative effective income tax rate. In other words, if your tax liability is 0, applying the credit wont change that.The opposite would be something like the earned income tax credit. If your tax liability is 0, you can use the credit to make your tax liability negative, meaning you get money back. 