Do I have to enter the 1098-T form even if the school states that it won't be sent to the IRS because "the amounts do not require reporting"?

[dmnirican]

The 1098-T form was obtained from the school's website, not via mail. The full disclaimer posted on the schools site is, "A representation of the Tuition Statement form 1098-T is shown below. This will not be sent to you or to the Internal Revenue Service as the amounts do not require reporting."

[DexterS · Accepted solution]

You can only claim your Education Credits by entering the 1098-T.

If you do enter the information and receive a credit be sure to keep a copy of 1098-T.

Since the school is not reporting the information you want to be sure that you have documentation in case the IRS questions your credit.

[dmnirican]

In our case, the info entered causes our refund to be smaller, due to block 5 (scholarships/grants) being larger than block 2 (tuition). This doesn't seem correct either though, as my wife (the student in this scenario) still had to receive some financial aid in the form of student loans to pay for some school. How might this be the case?

[dmnirican]

Further, in checking the info from her school, we located a billing statement from the school that's shows a much larger "Billed" amount than the 1098 and a within the payments field, the total amounts of grants and scholarships comes to a smaller total than the 1098. Would I be able to use these amounts on my taxes instead of the amounts listed in the 1098?