<prompt> Human: Hello! Im currently a community college student paying for my tuition with a pell grant. However, ill be starting university for fall of the 2015 coming year and the current grants that I have will not be enough for me to pay all of it as I might have to take on some loans. I also recently found out about the lifetime learning credit tax credit and how it might help in the overall paying of education.How do these credit tax exactly work and will I be able to use it for the next year of filing taxes? Other info: Ive been filing my own taxes without claiming any dependents or being claimed as a dependent since 2012 and usually get around 100 in the return. Im an Arizona student. Thank you for reading and for your help!  <response>: IRS employee here:Have a look at the Tax Benefits for Education page over at irs.gov. The Tuition and Fees Deduction was recently renewed for tax year 2014. How do these credit tax exactly work and will I be able to use it for the next year of filing taxes? The Lifetime Learning Credit is a non-refundable tax credit. This credit can reduce your income tax liability by up to 2,000, but it is limited to your actual tax. Any unused credit cant increase your refund.The American Opportunity Credit has a refundable component: even if your tax is reduced to zero, up to 1,500 may be refunded to you.The Tuition and Fees Deduction can reduce your taxable income. A deduction is generally not as beneficial as a credit, and the same expenses cant be claimed for a credit and a deduction.Both credits have specific rules and eligibility requirements, anduswalsh411 has provided the 2013 Publication 970 reference. The 2014 publication should be available online after 122015.Thank you for reading. 