Thanks for your question. If you do not have enough income to utilize your total tuition costs, your total tuition credits will be carried forward for future use. The amount you must use on your own tax return is equal to the amount of credit required to reduce the taxes you owe. That means if you don't have any taxes payable then your tuition credit will be carried forward and will be used against taxes payable in the future. Here is a link to read about Tuition credit.