My 1098T form displays a tuition amount that is MUCH lower than what I actually paid to the school. Do i enter info from 1098T or my actual records?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
June 1, 2019
2 replies
0 views

For example, my 1098T displays box 2 as about $2,000. When I reality, I paid $5800 for Spring(nvm paid in 2015) AND Summer(Paid in 2016) classes. Which info should I put in?

EDIT: Looking back at payment dates, only $2070 of the payments were made in 2016 (May). This still differs by about $70 from the 1098T.

TurboTax Deluxe Online

Best answer by AnnaB

You should enter the amount you actually paid during the tax year. In TurboTax, you can enter the Form 1098-T as given to you and right below Box 2, there should be a link that says What if this is not what I paid to this school. When you click that, it'll bring up a new box where you can enter the amounts actually paid to the school. This means all amounts paid on behalf of you regardless of who made the payments.

Please see attached screenshots showing where the link and new box will be.

AnnaBAnswer

Employee

Please see attached screenshots showing where the link and new box will be.

mbtt99

what amount can i put into the new box? only tuition OR tuition+fees+room+board costs? what impact does this have on the Other Education Expenses screens?

Carl11_2

Employee

Remember, schools work in academic years, while the IRS works in calendar years. So the reality is, it takes you 5 calendar years to get that 4 year degree. With that said:

- Scholarships, grants and 529 funds are reported as taxable income (initially) in the tax year they are received. It does not matter what tax year that scholarship, grant or 529 distribution may be *for*.

- Qualified education expenses are claimed/reported in the tax year they are paid. It does not matter what year the payment may have been *for*.

So you enter the 1098-T *exactly* as printed. Then later screens in the program will ask you for things that were not included on the 1098-T. In the end, everything adds up to what you actually received in the way of monetary education assistance, and the expenses actually paid.

Also remember that starting with tax year 2018, the "tuition and fees" deduction is no longer available. It expired at the end of 2017 and congress did not renew it.