On my 2019 Form 8917, my adjusted qualified expenses show $2,392, but I got a grant for this amount. I input info as instructed from the 1098T. Am I missing something?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
November 25, 2020
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The grant I mentioned is also included on my 1098T in Box 5 under scholarships and grants. My understanding is that these two numbers (Box 1 and Box 5) should cancel out and I would not be able to claim a Tuition and Fees Deduction, but TurboTax has my adjusted qualified expense as $2.392. Am I missing something?

TurboTax Premier Online

rjs

Employee

You are correct that the scholarship should cancel out the tuition and leave you with no qualified education expenses, and therefore no deduction or credit. Form 8917 shouldn't even be in your tax return.

Do both box 1 and box 5 of the 1098-T contain $2,392? Go back to the screen where you enter the 1098-T and double check that you entered 2,392 in both box 1 and box 5.

If the amounts in boxes 1 and 5 are entered correctly, and they both have the same amount, it's hard to tell what the problem might be without being able to see your tax return. I'll take one wild guess. On the screen that asks whether you paid for room and board with a scholarship, did you answer Yes and enter 2,392 as the amount? That would leave you with $2,392 of qualified expenses.

If you can't figure out what's wrong, there's another simple solution. Since you know that you do not qualify for the deduction, you do not have to enter the 1098-T at all. Go through the education section again and delete all the information you entered, and delete the 1098-T.

NhembAuthor

I really appreciate the reply. I looked back in my TurboTax forms and I did select Box 1 and Box 5 as both $2.392. I also selected "NO" if any of the grant was used for room and board and looked through to see if I maybe made any other school related deductions and there are none. My Form 8917 only shows the adjusted qualified expenses of $2,392 so unfortunately the return itself is no help to me to try and track down the error!

The main reason I figured something was going on was I am trying to tactfully prepare for 2020 taxes and came to realize there are actually considerably more "fees" that my university charges me (and I pay) but aren't included in Box 1 of the 1098T because they are not considered tuition... Delving deeper into Publication 970 it eludes that all of these are qualified educational expenses (minus health service fees). We're talking in the realm of $1,500 additional every quarter I've been attending... So, this next tax filing I plan to add these deductions in addition to the information as requested on my standard 1098T, but now I'm worried it is going to somehow not deduct the value from Box 5 again.

Again, thanks a lot for the suggestions. I hope to figure this out and become more savvy with my taxes!!