Your employer only made you a loan. You don't need to account for that, at all. You claim the tuition credit, just like you would if you had paid it, up front, yourself.
in TurboTax (TT), enter at:
Federal Taxes Tab (Personal for H&B version)
Deductions & Credits
-Scroll down to:
--Education
--Education Expenses and Scholarships (1098-T)
Enter Form 1098-T as if you did receive one. The Tuition is placed in box 1 and that is where you would enter your tuition payments to your employer.
Q But I don't get a 1098. How do I enter it?
A. After answering no to getting a 1098-T, answer yes to the question "do you qualify for an exception".
That assumes that your school is an "eligible institution" and you do, in deed, qualify for an exception.
Many schools no longer mail out the 1098-T. You obtain it from your school account, on line.
To be eligible for the tuition credits, the course must be taken at "an eligible institution". The school should be able to tell you if it is an eligible educational institution. In general, an eligible educational institution is an accredited college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary educational institution, including accredited, public, nonprofit, and proprietary (privately-owned, profit-making) postsecondary institutions. Additionally, in order to be an eligible educational institution, the school must be eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the Department of Education. If they issue a 1098-T they are probably an eligible institution.
Enter your school at the link below, to see if it's on the dept. of education list.
The trade school says they have to give 1098 to the employer as they paid the tuition. I have on the paychecks showing I pay my employer back, but it doesn't reflect on my W2.
"The trade school says they have to give 1098-T to the employer as they paid the tuition."
If that's the case, then you qualify for an exception, and can claim the credit. Enter as previously instructed.
That said, it shouldn't be too difficult for you to get a copy of the 1098-T from either your employer or the school. The 1098-T does not have to be in your name. But, you shouldn't need it. All that matters is that the school is an "eligible institution". You will need the school's Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN).