Box 1 on 1098-T is incorrect

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
January 30, 2021
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I received my 2020 1098-T form from my school and the amount in Box 1 is not correct. I checked what my total qualified tuition payments were in 2020 and that’s is not the amount that my school had reported. When I called the office whoever I spoke with didn’t sound like they new what they were talking about, saying something like ‘Even though it is tuition for Spring 2020 it was billed in November 2019 so only part of that payment is in your 2020 form’. However I only paid once and in full in January 2020 and didn’t make any payments in 2019 and adding up my tuition payments reported on 2019 form the amount for spring 2020 was definitely not included. Also Box 7 on my 2019 for was NOT checked. From my understanding schools have to report total amounts paid during calendar year regardless of the billing date, is that right?

I also didn’t have any adjustments or refunds. I’ve tried asking them to fix it but so far they have just been saying they are busy or responding with what I mentioned earlier. It has been 2 weeks already and I contacted them multiple times without any success so I am wondering if there is any sort of law or way for me to hold them accountable and try to get my form corrected or if I should just file my tax return and state that the amount reported doesn’t match what I paid. I am trying to avoid having to deal with sending the IRS additional forms and delaying my returns later on, but I am not sure what the best course of actions is so if anyone has any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

linaj20201

You only report the tuition expenses amount you actually paid on your tax return regardless how your Form 1098-T is reported. If you believe your Form 1098-T is incorrect, you are allowed to make an adjustment of the amount in box 2 of the Form 1098T. In TurboTax program, on the 1098T replica screen, you will enter the adjusted amount under box 1. See image. It is important to enter the actual amount of tuition expenses you paid. The program will base on this number to calculate your education tax break correctly on either a Form 8863 or Form 8917. Here are the steps to make adjustment on the Form 1098-T:

In TurboTax online,

Sign in to your account, select Pick up where you left off
At the right upper corner, in the search box, type in "1098t" and Enter
Select Jump to 1098t
Follow prompts
On the screen, under box 1, check the box This is not what," Student' Name paid to school"
Enter the actual amount you paid
See image below

If you believe you have reported your tuition expenses paid incorrectly on your 2019 return, you should file an amendment. Beginning with the 2019 tax year, you can e-file amended tax returns. If you used TurboTax to prepare Form 1040-X, follow the software's instructions to e-file the amendment.

To see how to amend your taxes, click here:

Steps to amend in TurboTax

How to file amendment