1098-t

[hkamareddine]

My daughter graduated in may 2019. When I received the 1098-t this year, all boxes are empty except the scholarship box. the total at the bottom of the form says I paid 7545 in loans and cash. When I called them and asked why the amount is not reflected in box 1, they said because she graduated in 2019. They said that the spring 2019 semester was billed in 2018 but that doesn't reflect in box 7 on the 2018 1098-t. They say that if you don't come back in fall 2019, then tuition is not "qualified tuition" and that is why it is not listed in box 1 of 2019 1098-t. Does that make sense? Please help otherwise I owe a lot. I also paid her living expenses which count for nothing apparently.

[JotikaT2]

Unfortunately, this does happen.

The tuition you paid was probably paid in 2018 and reflected in your 1098-T statement for 2018.  Therefore, the credit was probably taken against that tuition in your 2018 tax return.

If you have other qualified expenses that you paid in 2019, you can still report those in the 1098-T section under the other section as illustrated below.

[hkamareddine]

Thank you JotikaT2  for your response but if it was included, then box 7 of the 2018 1098 form would have been checked, right? In our case, it is not checked. Is that a mistake on the university's part?

Thanks!

huda

[ThomasM125]

That would be a mistake on the University's part. However, the primary purpose of the form is to assist you in preparing your tax return, not so much to inform the IRS of what credits or taxable income should appear on your tax return.

You should report the form 1098-T information in TurboTax as it is stated on the form, but you can adjust those amounts in response to the questions in TurboTax to reflect what occurred in the proper tax year on your tax return.

[hkamareddine]

Thank you ThomasM125 for the response. So I can still claim whatever I paid in 2019 regardless of what they have on the form, right?

[ThomasM125]

Yes, if you pad for qualifying education expenses in 2019, and you didn't report them on your tax return in 2018, then you should report them in 2019.

When you enter your form 1098-T, you will see an option "what if this is not what I paid", when you click on that option, you will see an option to enter what you actually paid for tuition in the current year.