Anyone paying higher-education expenses might want to study his or her tax return. Both the 1040 and 1040A contain a valuable lesson on how to write off up to $4,000 of college costs without having to itemize.

In this tax tip: • Only for specific expenses   • Money limits   • Only one break per filer   • Additional tax homework

The immediate attraction of the tuition-and-fees deduction is that it doesn't require you to fill out Schedule A. Other appealing features: You can count undergraduate and graduate expenses for yourself, your spouse or dependents, and you (or your dependents) don't have to be full-time students to deduct the costs. Watch "Children as tax deductions"

Plus, in addition to counting qualified education expenses paid for academic periods in 2007, you also can claim eligible expenses you paid last year to cover school sessions that begin during the first three months of 2008. For example, if you paid $1,500 last December for coursework that begins March 1, that prepayment can count in figuring your 2007 deduction amount.

One of the best things about the tuition-and-fees deduction this filing season doesn't actually have anything to do with the tax break itself. Rather, it involves the process for claiming it.

Last year, the deduction, although in effect, didn't appear on the tax forms because of slow congressional action. But that's not a problem this filing season. The tuition-and-fees tax break is back on the 2007 returns: line 34 of Form 1040 or line 19 of Form 1040A.

Applies only to specific expenses
The deduction, however, is not without limits.

Note the name. Only payments for tuition and fees count. No room, board or book costs are eligible.

Also, be sure your courses pass Internal Revenue Service inspection. In addition to being college-level, they must be for legitimate educational reasons. Sport, hobby or noncredit courses don't qualify unless the class is required as part of a degree program, for example, an archery class necessary to earn your B.S. in physical education.

Did you use other tax-advantaged education funds to pay your schooling costs? Those distributions could reduce, or possibly eliminate, this tuition-and-fees tax deduction. If you used money from a state tuition plan, a Coverdell educational savings account or interest on savings bonds you cashed to pay for class, you have to subtract those amounts from your expenses to arrive at the allowable deductible amount.

Some filing-status issues need to be considered. Married couples, for example, must file a joint return to take this deduction.

If you're a college student who is claimed as a dependent on your parents' return, be careful when it comes to this tax break. You can't take the deduction yourself even if you paid your tuition with your own money. In this case, neither you nor your parents get the deduction. And even if your parents don't claim you as a dependent, if they can, that possibility alone means you can't take the tuition-and-fees tax break.

Money limits
Then there are the money limits.

On 2007 returns, the tuition-and-fees deduction could be as much as $4,000. This amount, however, applies to all qualified expenses paid last year, not paid per student.

So you can't claim the $4,000 spent toward your M.B.A. course work and another $4,000 you paid for your daughter's freshman year at State U. (However, if your course work is employment-related, you might be able to claim it as a miscellaneous expense on Schedule A. Remember, though, you'll have to meet the 2 percent of adjusted gross income threshold for the schooling costs to be of any itemized tax benefit.)