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If you, your spouse or a dependent is off to college, some of your costs may save you money at tax time. You may be able to claim a tax credit on your federal tax return. Here are some key IRS tips that you should know about e tax credits: American Opportunity Tax Credit. The AOTC is worth up to $2,500 per year for an eligible student. You may claim this credit only for the first four years of higher education. Forty per- cent of the AOTC is refund- able. That means if you are eligible, you can get up to $1,000 of the credit as a re- fund, even if you do not owe any taxes. Lifetime Learning Credit. The LLC is worth up to $2,000 on your tax return. There is no limit on the number of years that you can claim the LLC for an eligible student. One credit per student. You can claim only one type of education credit per stu- dent on your tax return each year. If more than one student qualifies for a credit in the same year, you can claim a different credit for each student. For instance, you can claim the AOTC for one student, and claim the LLC for the other. Qualified expenses. You may use qualified expenses to figure your credit. These include the costs you pay for tuition, fees and other related expenses for an eli- gible student. Refer to IRS. gov for more on the rules that apply to each credit. Eligible educational in- stitutions. Eligible schools are those that offer educa- tion beyond high school. This includes most colleges and universities. Vocational schools or other postsec- ondary schools may also qualify. If you aren't sure if your school is eligible: Ask your school if it is an eligible educational institu- tion, or See if your school is on the U.S. Department of Ed- ucation's Accreditation da- tabase. Form 1098-T. In most cases, you should receive Form 1098-T, Tuition State- ment, from your school by Feb. 1, 2016. This form re- ports your qualified ex- penses to the IRS and to you. The amounts shown on the form may be differ- ent than the amounts you actually paid. That might happen because some of your related costs may not appear on the form. For in- stance, the cost of your text- books may not appear on the form. However, you still may be able to include those costs when you figure your credit. Don't forget that you can only claim an education credit for the qualified ex- penses that you paid in that same tax year. Nonresident alien. If you are in the United States on an F-1 Student Visa, the tax rules generally treat you as a nonresident alien for fed- eral tax purposes. To find out more about your F-1 Student Visa status, visit U.S. Immigration Support. To learn more about resi- dent and nonresident alien status and restrictions on claiming the education credits, refer to Publica- tion 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens. Income limits. These credits are subject to in- come limitations and may be reduced or eliminated, based on your income. Visit IRS.gov and use the Interactive Tax Assistant tool to see if you are eligi- ble to claim education cred- its. Visit the IRS Education Credits Web page to learn more. Also see Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Educa- tion. You can get it on IRS. gov/forms at any time. TAXTIPS Back-to-school education tax credits For years, I believed an old wives' tale that ba- nanas will turn black and spoil almost instantly if you put them in the refrigerator. In fact, I even passed this notion on to you. Whoops! Hearing from reader Lin made me reconsider, test and now I must recant. I've tested this and Lin is right. I was wrong! BANANAS IN THE FRIDGE. I read in your column a while back about how to keep fruit fresher longer. You said not to put bananas in the refriger- ator. I beg to differ. We put fresh bananas in the fridge and they may turn back and ugly on the out- side but inside, even after seven days or longer, they are as fresh and firm as new. Try it. — Lin Readers: I have discov- ered that if I put the ba- nanas in a plastic bag and tie or seal it tightly, and then place this in the crisper drawer, the ba- nanas retain their yellow color. There's something about black bananas (even if the are totally fine in- side) I find to be somewhat off-putting! — Mary BABY BATHTUB. If your baby is too big for the infant tub but too small for your bathroom tub, buy a 10-gallon plas- tic storage tub and a rub- ber bath mat with tiny suction cups. For about $5 your baby won't slip and fall, but will be able to splash and play and have a great time. This size "tub" should last a few years, and when Baby has out- grown it, you have an in- stant storage bin. Just re- member to stash the lid in a place you won't forget! — Beth Readers: Please, never ever leave a child alone in any amount of water for any length of time. — Mary PICKLED ANTS. I have used vinegar as a weed- killer for over 10 years. A couple of weeks ago I found out it is also an ex- cellent ant killer. Simply spray it on them. There is very little odor, and if there is any odor at all, it disappears quickly. I have had a longtime problem with ants in my kitchen and bathroom and do not like to use insecticides for many reasons (e.g., my cat and dogs, it's poisonous, it smells, is oily and gets on my skin). Now I don't have to worry about it! — Ann ASPARTAMED ANTS. Next time there's an in- vasion of ants, spread a single packet of NutraS- weet (or other sweetener that contains aspartame) over part of the trail. One treatment gets rid of all the ants in less than a day, and I have yet to see them come back. Try it and see. Then reconsider whether you want to use the stuff in your drinks. — Howell CLEANING CON- CRETE. Years ago you published a tip from a reader for spot removal from concrete. I found that bleach (preferably Clorox brand) sprayed on the spots works great. Let it work for about five minutes, and then rinse. I have a stone retaining wall in front of my place and this makes it look like new. — Carl Readers: Please exercise extreme caution whenever handling liquid chlorine bleach. Above all, do not mix it with anything but water to avoid mixing up a batch of deadly chlorine gas. — Mary HANDY-DANDY DRY MILK. When I purchase powdered milk, I imme- diately pour the contents into a large sealable con- tainer such as Tupperware. When I used to leave it in the box it comes in, it just sat in the pantry because I could never measure accu- rately when it poured from the box. I find that I use a lot more powdered milk in cooking when I can easily put the extra product right back in the container. — Brenda FREE FRAGRANCE TRIAL. I tear out the fra- grance sample strips on the pages of major maga- zines and tuck them in my bra (one at a time!) and that way I can try different expensive perfumes with- out buying them. The fra- grance lasts the full day, sometimes longer. — Fiona Wouldyouliketosend a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE Don'tbelieveoldwives'taleonbananas Mary Hunt The 16th annual Col- lege Quest, a free college information night, will take place 5-8 p.m. Mon- day, Sept. 21, at the Simp- son University Gym. 2211 College View Drive in Red- ding. This free community event is open to everyone, but specifically designed for north state high school students and their fami- lies to explore higher edu- cation opportunities. The gym is called the Heri- tage Student Life Center and parking is free. College Quest will fea- ture booths from more than 50 colleges and uni- versities. Recruiters will be on hand to showcase their academic programs and provide students with ad- mission information. At- tendees can learn about degree options, costs of at- tending and accreditation. There will also be free workshops at 5:30 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., presented by College Options staff covering financial aid in- formation. College Quest is part of a tour network, coordi- nated by statewide organi- zations. The Redding event is planned and sponsored by representatives from College OPTIONS, Schol- arShare California's 529 College Savings Plan, Shasta College, Shasta Union High School Dis- trict, Simpson University, National University and the Shasta County Office of Education. COLLEGE QUEST No rt h St at e Co ll eg e In fo rm at io n Ni gh t se t Youth Camp came to a close in July with 52 camp- ers and 36 adults and teen staff to thank. The success of a sum- mer camp program de- pends on many vari- ables such as donations, attendees, teens willing to put in many hours be- fore camp even begins and adults willing to use their vacation to help the community, and this year all of these things hap- pened. Campers enjoyed many projects such as fishing, arts and crafts, tomahawk throwing, Dutch oven cooking, as well has hav- ing fun around the camp- fire with skits and games to roasting marshmal- lows, playing in the creek and more. The teens stayed on an extra night to have their own fun, which included a game of hide-and-seek with the adult staff and the traditional yummy milkshakes. Organizers are very grateful for Keith Skel- ton, who stepped in as the camp director at the last minute, as well as Wendy Rosser and Jenny and Ed- die Rashein who stepped in as the camp cook and as our medical staff. The 4-H Program is an educational program and the teen staff work very hard beginning in April to host a stellar camp- ing program, at planning meetings before and dur- ing camp. Many businesses and community members do- nate to the summer youth camp program. These do- nations are very much ap- preciated for supplies, food and even to offset projects offered to the youth dur- ing camp itself. Their do- nations are truly appreci- ated. Thank you to the fami- lies who support the pro- gram by sending their chil- dren to the camp. Camp planning meet- ings for 2016 will begin this winter. If anyone is interested in joining this team, call the Tehama County 4-H Office at 527- 3101 for more information. 4-H Youth Camp a success COURTESYPHOTO Children, teens and adults enjoyed a successful 4-H Youth Camp in July. 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