Do I have to enter payments I received from college for the CARES Act and vaccine incentives as Scholarships/Grants?

[Nikomaru14]

I am using the American opportunity credit but I received money from my college in the form of checks sent to me for the CARES Act emergency covid relief as well as vaccine incentive payments. Do I have to include this money in TurboTax under Scholarship/Grants or subtract it from my tuition or books in some way? I will say that I probably used this money for college related expenses not directly on tuition and books but on things like housing, internet for online classes, and food.

Also do I include the cares act payment or vaccine incentives in income?

I am leaning towards no, but I just want to make sure so I'm not doing something wrong. Thanks!

[Hal_Al]

Q. Do I have to include this money in TurboTax under Scholarship/Grants or subtract it from my tuition or books in some way?

A. Simple answer: no.  However, if you used the money to pay tuition, you may not claim the tuition credit based on that payment.  However, if there was no matched payment with that  money, you can  say that you probably used that money for "college related expenses not directly on tuition and books but on things like housing, internet for online classes, and food".

Q. Do I include the cares act payment or vaccine incentives in income?

A. No