1098T Paid by the G.I. Bill

[Bcully]

I got a 1098T from the school my wife attends.  The amount paid for tuition and related expenses were paid by the post 9/11 G.I. Bill.  From what I'm reading on Turbo Tax, I don't have to claim that (1098T) because tuition paid by the V.A. is tax excempt. The same amount is listed in box 1 as in box 5 but that amount was paid by the V.A. under the post 9/11 bill. Please Advise

[DanielDB]

Based on the information you provided you are correct.  You would not report the amount paid by the GI bill.  Below is an example from publication 970 - Education Benefits that confirms that.

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch01.html#en_US_2010_publink1000178026

Example.

You have returned to college and are receiving two education benefits under the latest GI Bill: (1) a $1,534 monthly basic housing allowance (BAH) that is directly deposited to your checking account, and (2) $3,840 paid directly to your college for tuition. Neither of these benefits is taxable and you do not report them on your tax return. You also want to claim an American opportunity credit on your return. You paid $5,000 in qualified education expenses (explained in detail in chapter 2). To figure the amount of credit, you must first subtract the $3,840 from your qualified education expenses because this payment under the GI Bill was required to be used for education expenses. You do not subtract any amount of the BAH because it was paid to you and its use was not restricted

Hope that helps.

[jerryjenn]

Similar situation applies with us however we incurred some college expense in addition to the GI bill. Can we take advantage of one of the college tax credits as well?
thanks

[justmax5]

The problem is, they included the GI post 911 payment in with the scholarships paid in box 5, can I reduce the amt in box 5 by the amt paid by the GI bill? Because it was tax free. Then list the amt paid by GI BIll in part IV line 1?

[Hal_Al]

@justmax5 

What are trying to accomplish?  Generally, you do not enter data directly on the worksheets ("part IV line 1"). 

TurboTax automatically matches box 5  to box1 and treats it as tax free unless you enter additional info to tell it otherwise.