Tax Year Prior to 2020: I paid tuition in December of 2018 for the January 2019 semester. Can I still file this for 2019 taxes? Or should I have filed this with last years?

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March 29, 2020
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ColeenD3

Please see this information from the Help article.

Can I include education expenses on my 2019 return that I paid in 2018 or earlier?

You can't include expenses you paid in 2018 (or earlier) on this year’s 2019 tax return. If you forgot to include them, you'll need to amend your prior-year return to claim those expenses.

Likewise, if you paid tuition in 2019 for the 2020 school year and the classes begin in the first three months of 2020, you’ll include them on your 2019 tax return.

clrone

We took a 529 distribution to pay for Spring 2020 semester in December of 2019. The distribution shows on the 2019 1099-Q, however, the payment to the college didn't show on the 2019 1098-T. It makes it look like we took extra money out. How should we handle this?

VictorW9

Generally, your 529 withdrawal does not have to match your 1098-T. The maximum allowed for a 529 deduction is 100% of the beneficiary's qualified higher education expenses paid in the year - tuition, fees, books supplies, equipment and room and board less $4,000 which is redirected to the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC). So, as long as the the total withdrawal does not exceed the amount calculated as qualified higher education expenses, then you should be fine.

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