Form 1098-T Box 1 Amount - Do I Claim th Box 1 Amount, or What I Paid for Tuition in the Calendar Year 2020.

[FOCUSGuy]

Box 1 of 2020 Form 1098-T (Payments received for qualified tuition) shows $300. 

I paid $200 for academic periods in 2020 and $100 for academic periods in 2021.  (Given that Box 7 is checked, I guess that is highlighting that the school entered $300 rather than $200.)    

What amount do I claim on my 2020 1040? 

The $300 in Box 1 or the $200 I paid for academic periods in 2020? 

(In the later case I guess I would make a note to to claim the $100 for the academic period in 2021, when I file my 2021 1040.)

[Hal_Al · Accepted solution]

Claim what you actually paid in 2020, even if it was for the first term of 2021. 

The most generous credit, The American Opportunity Credit, can only be claimed 4 times in your life time.  It is worth up $2500. each year.  You may not want to use up one of your 4 times on on a mere $300.

But, the AOC can only be used on undergrad and vocational schools.  Grad school is not eligible. 

[FOCUSGuy]

Thank you Hal_Al.