Paying interest on a student loan and still haven’t filed your tax return?

You can reduce your taxable income by the amount of student loan interest you paid in 2010, up to $2,500.

That’s true even if you don’t itemize deductions.  Unfortunately, married folks have to file joint tax returns to take the student loan interest deduction, and some married people will want to file separately in order to separate their incomes for figuring Income-Based Repayment.

Figure your deduction using the Student Loan Interest Deduction Worksheet.  Your lender (a bank or the government) should have sent you a Form 1098-E, showing the interest you paid.

More detail is in IRS Publication 970.