Can I claim my sons college tuition fees even though they’re being paid by loans not listed on TurboTax?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
March 16, 2020
2 replies
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Last year and this year I was never send a 1098 form from his college and have not had to pay any interest is that because the student loans are paying them?

TurboTax Deluxe Online

NCPERSON1

loans have nothing to do with the tax credits available

Obtain the 1098T form and input that into your tax return.

KatrinaB48

Yes, qualifying educational expenses paid with student loans funds count as being paid out-of-pocket. You can claim an education credit based on these expenses if you qualify otherwise. Please view this TurboTax FAQ to see the qualifications for claiming an education credit. You do not pay interest on the student loan until you start repaying the balance. You can claim educational expenses without Form 1098-T. The IRS does not explicitly require this form in order to claim an education credit. Please follow the directions below to enter your education expenses into TurboTax:

Log in and open your return
Click the search field and type 1098-T
Click the Jump To link that in the search results
You should land on the screen where you can enter your student and Form 1098-T information.
On the screen that asks if you received Form 1098-T answer No to proceed with the interview and enter the required tuition and fees you paid.

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Hal_Al

Employee

Yes, as long as your son is listed as a dependent on your tax return. There is no where in TurboTax (TT), or the IRS forms, that you list the source of the money that pays for you college expenses; you enter what you (or your son or anybody else) paid, not what the source was.

I disagree with the statement "The IRS does not explicitly require this form [1098-T] in order to claim an education credit." You must have the form or an exception (the TT interview asks the exception question) to claim the credit. Check with your school to be sure they are an "eligible institution". Schools frequently (although erroneously) don't issue a 1098-T when the tuition is paid directly to the school, by loans. That qualifies as an excpetion.