1098-t

[hycebroffman]

I am entering my 1098-t, and am confused about something. On my 1098-t, box 7 (at least half-time student) is checked, and box 8 (graduate student) is not, even though I enrolled in a graduate program in august, and completed 6 hours by Dec 2019. Not sure where to go from here.

[AmyC]

The question is not really the graduate box so much as it is if you were an undergraduate anytime during the year or had you finished your first four years of college before 2019. That is the main purpose of the graduate box, to help with education credits.

Please see the following regarding credits:

What education tax credits are available?

What are qualified education expenses for the American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits?

[Hal_Al]

There are 3 education credits or deductions available*.  You are only allowed to claim one.  The most generous credit, the American Opportunity Credit (AOC) is only available for undergrad education.  So, you have to decide whether to claim only your undergrad expenses for the AOC or claim both your grad & undergrad expenses for the less generous Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC). Students and/or their parents are only allowed to claim the AOC a total of 4 times.  Since a bachelor's degree usually takes 5 calendar/tax years, most recent grads have already used up their 4 times, so there is no decision to make.  The AOC is no longer an option.  If that is your case, check box 8 at the 1098-T screen to simplify the process.

The third one is the Tuition and Fees Deduction (TFD) and  is the least generous (an up to $4000 deduction off income).