New York Form IT-272 is the one-page form you file with your IT-201 resident return to claim either the college tuition credit (up to $400 per student) or the college tuition itemized deduction (up to $10,000 per student). You pick one or the other for each student, not both. The credit is refundable, so if it wipes out your state tax the state pays you the difference.
Who Can Use the Form
IT-272 is for full-year New York State residents only. Part-year residents and nonresidents cannot use it; those filers who itemize may instead look at the college tuition itemized deduction through Form IT-203-B.
The student has to be you, your spouse, or a dependent you claim on your New York return. If a dependent paid their own tuition, the payments count as yours, but that dependent cannot then file their own IT-272 for the same expenses.
Only undergraduate tuition qualifies. Master’s programs, professional degrees, and any other postbaccalaureate study are out. The student does not need to be full-time or pursuing a degree; individual undergraduate courses at a qualifying school still count. The school must be an institution of higher education recognized and approved by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, or accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency the Regents accept.
What Counts as Qualified Tuition
Qualified expenses are limited to tuition required for enrollment or attendance. Payment method is irrelevant: cash, check, credit card, or borrowed funds all count. What matters is separating tuition from everything else on the bill.
The following do not qualify, even if the school requires them:
- Room and board, insurance, and transportation.
- Medical expenses and student health fees.
- Books, supplies, equipment, and nonacademic activity fees.
- Any tuition your employer paid or reimbursed.
Subtract scholarships, grants, and other financial aid from your tuition before you put a number on the form. That includes the Excelsior Scholarship and any other award, even one that doesn’t show up on the school’s itemized bill. If you know an award amount but haven’t received it by the time you file, reduce your expenses anyway. Student loans are not financial aid for this purpose and do not reduce your qualified expenses.
After subtracting aid, the maximum you can claim per student is $10,000. If net tuition was $14,000, you enter $10,000 on line I.
Credit or Deduction: Which to Pick
The credit cuts your tax dollar for dollar up to $400 per student, and it’s refundable, so you get the full benefit even if you owe nothing. The deduction reduces taxable income by up to $10,000 per student, so its real value depends on your marginal rate. At New York’s top rate, $10,000 off income beats a $400 credit, but for most filers the credit wins.
Two hard rules narrow the choice:
- If your income on Form IT-201, line 33, exceeds $1,000,000, the deduction drops to zero. You must take the credit.
- If your standard deduction already beats your itemized deductions with the tuition added in, take the credit.
For everyone else, the IT-272 instructions include two worksheets. Worksheet 1 compares your standard deduction against your itemized deductions including the tuition amount. If itemizing doesn’t come out ahead, stop and take the credit. If it does, Worksheet 2 runs both scenarios and tells you which produces the lower tax. The worksheets factor in other credits you may be claiming (the Empire State child credit, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and New York City school tax credit), so the comparison reflects your whole return.
The worksheets don’t work if you file Form IT-201-ATT, IT-360.1, IT-112-R, or IT-112-C. In that case the instructions tell you to figure your total tax both ways on a separate sheet and pick the lower.
Filling Out the Form
Pull the federal Form 1098-T from every school the student attended during the year. It gives you both the tuition paid and the school’s Employer Identification Number. Have scholarship and aid award letters nearby so you can compute net tuition correctly.
Part 1: Eligible Student Information
List each eligible student at the top. Enter name, Social Security Number, and relationship. Box D asks whether the student is your dependent. If the student is you or your spouse, mark “No.” Otherwise the answer has to be “Yes,” or the expenses don’t qualify.
Boxes E and F take the school’s EIN and name. If the student attended more than one undergraduate school during the year, use the last one attended. Line G asks whether the enrollment was undergraduate; if not, those expenses are out.
Line H is your total qualified tuition for that student across all institutions, after subtracting scholarships and aid. Line I is the lesser of $10,000 or line H.
Parts 2 and 3: The Credit Math
These parts apply a percentage to your allowable expenses and cap the result at $400 per student. There is no limit on how many students you can claim; a family with three undergraduates could reach $1,200. Transfer the final credit amount to Form IT-201, line 68.
Part 4: The Itemized Deduction
Only fill in Part 4 if the worksheets show the deduction beats the credit. If IT-201 line 33 income exceeds $1,000,000, skip this part. Otherwise follow the worksheet instructions to calculate the deduction and carry the result to the right line on Form IT-196.
Filing and Refund
Submit the completed IT-272 with your Form IT-201. If you e-file, your software attaches it automatically once you’ve entered the tuition information. Paper filers place the IT-272 directly behind the IT-201 in the envelope. If the credit exceeds your tax for the year, the state refunds the difference without interest.
Records to Keep
Hold onto the 1098-T, tuition bills, scholarship and aid letters, and anything showing how you paid. The IRS recommends keeping records supporting a credit or deduction for at least three years from the date you filed, or two years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. New York audits state returns on a similar timeline, so three years after filing is a sensible floor.