Updated September 29, 2026. Quick answer: The American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit share a single modified adjusted gross income phase-out range under 26 U.S.C. §25A(d): $80,000 to $90,000 for single filers and $160,000 to $180,000 for joint filers. These thresholds have not moved since the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 aligned the Lifetime Learning Credit to the American Opportunity Tax Credit’s already-flat range, and the IRS states directly that they are not adjusted for inflation, so the 2025, 2026, and 2027 figures are all identical. The $2,500 maximum American Opportunity Tax Credit and $2,000 maximum Lifetime Learning Credit amounts are also flat.
IRS worksheets read line by line: Pub 970 Worksheet 1-1.
IRS worksheets read line by line: Form 8863 Credit Limit Worksheet and Form 8863 Adjusted Qualified Education Expenses Worksheet.
Related reading on this site: IRS Publication 970.
Line-by-line IRS form guides for 2025: Form 8863 lines 1 to 8, Form 8863 lines 9 to 19 and Form 8863 lines 27 to 30.
Schedule 3 (Form 1040) for 2025, read line by line: Schedule 3 line 3.
Read box by box from the IRS form text: Form 1098-T box 5, Form 1098-T box 7 and Form 1098-T box 8.
The education credit phase-out range, 2025-2027
| Year | Single / HOH / QSS | Married filing jointly |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $80,000-$90,000 | $160,000-$180,000 |
| 2026 | $80,000-$90,000 | $160,000-$180,000 |
| 2027 (flat, confirmed by statute) | $80,000-$90,000 | $160,000-$180,000 |
One statute, one flat range, two credits
26 U.S.C. §25A(d) phases out both the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit together, over a $10,000 MAGI band ($20,000 for a joint return) starting at $80,000 single or $160,000 joint. Before the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260), the Lifetime Learning Credit had its own, separately inflation-indexed and lower phase-out range; that Act repealed the separate range and moved the Lifetime Learning Credit onto the American Opportunity Tax Credit’s already-flat thresholds, effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020. Neither credit’s maximum dollar amount moves either: the American Opportunity Tax Credit tops out at $2,500 per student (40 percent of which, up to $1,000, is refundable), and the Lifetime Learning Credit tops out at $2,000 per return, both fixed amounts unrelated to inflation. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 added a Social Security number requirement for claiming either credit beginning in 2026, but did not touch the dollar thresholds.
Why 2027 needs no projection at all
The IRS states this directly, not just by omission: its own newsroom release on the 2026 inflation adjustments notes that “the modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) amount used to phase out the Lifetime Learning Credit has not been adjusted for inflation for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2020.” Consistent with that, neither IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 nor Revenue Procedure 2024-40 lists a §25A dollar figure among the roughly 60 items each one adjusts, and no named forecaster’s 2027 report includes an education-credit projection, because there is nothing for a forecast to estimate.
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The education credit figures on this page were checked against 26 U.S.C. §25A and the IRS announcement of the 2026 inflation adjustments on September 29, 2026.
- 26 U.S.C. §25A, via Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute: the unified $80,000/$90,000 single and $160,000/$180,000 joint phase-out range in subsection (d), read directly from the codified statute.
- IRS Newsroom, 2026 tax inflation adjustments release: the IRS’s own statement that the Lifetime Learning Credit’s phase-out has not been inflation-adjusted since 2020, read directly from the release.
- 26 U.S.C. §25A (uscode.house.gov): the statute that defines these figures.
Statute: 26 U.S.C. §25A(d), as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116-260).
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General information, not tax or legal advice. This page will be updated with the official 2027 figure the day it is announced.