1098-T Question

[Charlotte7598]

Hello everyone! For one of my 1098-T's from a previous year, I'm seeing that box 2 says 37,000 for amount billed, but the box is checked for "amount billed includes academic year beginning January-March of the following year." My scholarship for box 5 was about 35,500 and to reconcile box 2,  looks like I put amount actually paid during the tax year as the 37,000. Since it supposedly included amounts for the following year as well, is it possible that was an error? Thank you. 🙂

[MaryK4]

With the education credits, you cannot always rely on the information reported on the 1098-T because you have to claim the credits based on when the payments were actually made.  In your case, you may have to adjust the amounts so you can maximize your benefits- you can adjust in TurboTax either by changing the amounts you report on the 1098-T entry (if you do I recommend writing what you did on the form and keeping a copy with your tax records)- or you can tweak the entries for the educational expenses entries.

[Charlotte7598]

@MaryK4 I see! For this particular year in question, I did not actually claim the credit as I was a dependent. My mom might have. So hopefully, the actual amount paid was not less than what was stated on her return as that could be an issue.

As a follow-up, if I am enrolled full time and received my diploma on May 6th (that's what the diploma says), would that constitute me being enrolled part of that 5th month for dependency purposes?

[SharonD007]

Yes. You qualify as a full-time student if you began your semester in January and graduated in May. You must be a full-time student for any part of five calendar months of the year. Any part of the month is considered the entire month. You would qualify as a qualifying child on your parent’s tax return if you were under 24. Otherwise, you would be considered a qualifying relative.

For additional information, please refer to the TurboTax Help articles Am I considered a full-time student? and Rules for Claiming a Dependent on Your Tax Return.

[Charlotte7598]

Ok, got it.

I hope me and my mom haven't been entering 1098-T information wrong for purposes of claiming education credits, because I didn't understand before that those amounts listed can't always be trusted. I guess it's because IRS goes by calendar year while colleges go by academic year. I will have to ask my school for copies of invoices and payment records, although my first 1098-T was in 2016 and I don't think we'd be able to amend that far?

[SharonD007]

Yes, if you need to file an amendment for 2016 you can but you will need to file it on paper and mail it to the IRS for processing. Please see the IRS website  Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, Frequently Asked Questions for additional information.  If you were due an additional refund for 2016, the IRS will not send it because you missed the window. To claim a refund, you must amend (file a Form 1040-X) within three years after the date that you filed your original return. Refer to IRS Topic No. 308 Amended Returns.

[Charlotte7598]

Ok, good to know! I will have to figure it out by asking for invoices and payment records from my school, but definitely hoping it's not a situation where we would have ended up owing more due to a 1098-T error. That would be another situation entirely.