I did not receive a 1098T form from the college I attended, I received grants to pay for the college, however in 2015-2016 year I had a student loan and the college did not give me a 1098T form that year either. My question is, can I claim the grants for going to college and using them to pay for it?
Yes, Certainly, you can claim your 2016 qualified education expenses that you incurred while attending a qualifying educational institution on your tax return. You don't necessarily need a Form 1098-T to claim any of the various federal tax benefits for educational expenses. Such as the following:
1) American Opportunity Credit
2) Lifetime Learning Credit
3) Tuition & Fees Deduction
4) Educational expense (deduction) related to your self-employment; or as an educational expense undertaken at the request of your employer for which you did not get reimbursed.
An official 1098-T is not absolutely required in order to claim any of them. The IRS does not explicitly mandate that you as a taxpayer have a 1098-T. There are exceptions to the rule. Proof of your expenses in the form cancelled checks to your school, bank statements, or a statement of student account from your school's registrar office are good enough to satisfy the recordkeeping provisions of the law.
In TurboTax, you'll simply tell the program that "yes" you incurred educational expenses, but that "no" you don't have a 1098-T. You'll then be presented with the opportunity to input the dollar amounts of your educational expenses.
You may additionally find the information at the following TurboTax FAQ pages helpful:
Yes, Certainly, you can claim your 2016 qualified education expenses that you incurred while attending a qualifying educational institution on your tax return. You don't necessarily need a Form 1098-T to claim any of the various federal tax benefits for educational expenses. Such as the following:
1) American Opportunity Credit
2) Lifetime Learning Credit
3) Tuition & Fees Deduction
4) Educational expense (deduction) related to your self-employment; or as an educational expense undertaken at the request of your employer for which you did not get reimbursed.
An official 1098-T is not absolutely required in order to claim any of them. The IRS does not explicitly mandate that you as a taxpayer have a 1098-T. There are exceptions to the rule. Proof of your expenses in the form cancelled checks to your school, bank statements, or a statement of student account from your school's registrar office are good enough to satisfy the recordkeeping provisions of the law.
In TurboTax, you'll simply tell the program that "yes" you incurred educational expenses, but that "no" you don't have a 1098-T. You'll then be presented with the opportunity to input the dollar amounts of your educational expenses.
You may additionally find the information at the following TurboTax FAQ pages helpful: