Question

Reporting tuition on tax return

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
February 9, 2020
1 reply
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I have paid for my tuition of Fall 2019, and Spring 2020. My former employer reimbursed me for my fall 2019 tuition, so I know I cannot claim that on my tax return. Though I paid the spring tuition in December, my school did not post the charges on my account till Jan 3rd, 2020. (because they cancelled a the class, and I had to register for another one) The 1098-T I received from my school shows only tuition for the fall semester. They refused to correct the 1098-T to reflect the tuition for semesters. They also have Box 7 checked signifying that the amount on the form was for a class starting Jan-March 2020 which is not correct. I can think of a few routes to take regarding this situation.

1. Do not report anything in my tax filing for this year since I got paid in cash and got reimbursed for the fall semester, and claim the spring semester when I file for tax year 2020.

2. Report the information on 1098-T that has the incorrect Box 7 and report the the employer reimbursement which will result in me not claiming any tax credit, but merely reporting (I do not know if I am required to report)

3. Report information based on when I actually paid the school for both semesters (August and December) as well as my employer reimbursement, claiming LLC on the spring semester tuition. If I do that, how will it complicate things since I am assuming the school will include the spring tuition amount to the 1098-T issued for tax year 2020.

Which route should I take?

Thanks in advance!

Hal_Al

Employee

Since you seem to have a choice, do what works out best for you. A case could be made for reporting it either year.

The 1098-T is only any informational document. The numbers on it are not required to be entered onto your tax return. However receipt of a 1098-T frequently means you are either eligible for a tuition credit or deduction or possibly your student has taxable scholarship income.

If you claim the tuition credit, you do need to report that you got one or that you qualify for an exception (the TurboTax interview will handle this)

You claim the tuition credit, or report scholarship income, based on your own financial records, not the 1098-T. In the 1098-T screen, click on the link "What if this is not what I paid the school" underneath box 1. You will then be able to enter the actual amounts paid.