I claimed my student loan interest cause I made payments and the tax form was in my name but now my cosigner wants to claim it

[anon20222222]

I understand they made also paid a voluntary payment even though they were not obligated to because I was not in default (Loan contract says they are not obligated to unless it goes in to default and any payments made prior to that are voluntary) ) problem is I already filed and just filed an amended tax return because I noticed an issue on a W2 i had to fix. I spoke with the loan company and I do have the right to claim it but what happens if my cosigner fights it?

[Vanessa A]

Who is your cosigner? In general, the person who makes the payment claims the interest.  

 If your cosigner is your parents and they were claiming you as a dependent when you took the loan out, they would be able to claim the student loan interest for the interest on the payments they made.  When you say voluntary payments, do you mean payments that were in excess of what was due?  Like paid down the loan balance when a payment wasn't due?  Or did they make an actual payment for you?  If they made payments because you were late on the payments or did not make the payments, then they would be able to claim the interest.  When you are late on a payment you are in default of the contract.  Although most student loans don't go into full default until 270 days of missed payments, it can still be considered a default if you are late. 

If this is the case, then you would need to Amend Your Return to claim the interest only on the payments you made.  They have every right to claim the interest on the payments they made. 

Student Loan Interest

If this was not your parent, then they would not be able to claim a deduction for the student loan interest

[anon20222222]

I was past due once or twice but was working with my loan company to get caught up and then I was in school so payments stopped. I did confirm with the loan company I was never in full default and my cosigner was never required to pay due to not being in full default which it does state in the contract they signed. They asked her to make voluntary payments via voice mail but she dodged the calls.  Only one payment was made by her (tech. by her husband over the phone) when they choice to voluntary pay it off while I was in school I had no idea until it happened. The tax document came in my name and I put a request in with the company put a request in to see if they could change information on the tax form but it was never changed because they considered it a voluntary payment. I know you can only deduct 2500 and their claiming they can deduct the whole amount of interest. I still shocked because I never gave consent for them to talk to him about anything and the company needed consent from both of us to add anyone as a authorized party. 

[Vanessa A]

No, they definitely cannot claim the entire amount when you made most of the payments. The rule, in general, is you can claim what you paid.  Since the amount is on your 1098-E and in your name, and you already claimed the interest, there is nothing they can do to dispute your return and try to claim the interest.