1098-T box 1 empty

[TASHASAKURA]

So my husband went to school for one semester in 2020 and didnt go in 2019. But he recieved a 1098-T for 2020 but box 1 is empty. He receives financial aid but shouldnt there still be an amount charged or payments made to the school. I was on financial aid in college in 2019 and always had a value in 1 and i didnt pay out of pocket?

[LinaJ2020]

If he paid any qualified education expenses like tuition and books, the school should have reported the amount in box 1 on the Form 1098-T.  If he received financial aid that covered all his expenses, the school might have an option not to report it.  This explains why it's showing blank in box 1. 

If the financial aid covers all his qualified education expenses, he will not qualify for any education tax breaks.  However, if his financial aid only covers part of it, then he may qualify a partial education tax break.  I will suggest you to enter his information in the program and let the program confirms if he will receive any tax break.  You can also contact the school to verify.  Here are the steps:

• Sign in to your account, select Pick up where you left off
• At the right upper corner, in the search box, type in "1098t" and Enter
• Select Jump to 1098t
• Follow prompts

As far as your situation, the same rules apply to.  If you did not pay anything out of pocket, you do not need to enter the Form 1098-T. 

[TASHASAKURA]

I dont enter the form 1098-T for taxes like not report because it asks for me to file it?

[LinaJ2020]

If you did not pay any qualified education expenses like tuition and books, you do not qualify for the any education tax break.  You do not need to report it on your taxes. You can skip the question and the Form 1098-T section. 

[Hal_Al]

Your situation isn't that uncommon.  The school credited your spring tuition payment to 2019 but didn't apply your offsetting scholarship until 2020. If you follow the TurboTax interview carefully, the situation is covered, and it will all zero out.

That said, it's too easy to make a mistake.  Take LinaJ2020's advice, just don't enter the 1098-T.

The 1098-T is only an informational document. The numbers on it are not required to be entered onto your tax return. In fact, even if you enter them in TurboTax, there is no where on the actual tax forms for them to be placed. 

[TASHASAKURA]

Thank you everyone I did figure it out. Like you all said don’t enter it since we didn’t pay out of pocket