Q. TurboTax showing a tax/education credit for a grant to pay for the tuition of his dual enrollment course. Am I entering something wrong?.
A. Probably. The 1098-T is only an informational document. The numbers on it are not required to be entered onto your tax return. However receipt of a 1098-T frequently means you are either eligible for a tuition credit or possibly your student has taxable scholarship income.
You claim the tuition credit, or report scholarship income, based on your own financial records, not the 1098-T. If you know that neither is true, just don't enter the 1098-T.
Scholarships that pay for qualified educational expenses (QEE - tuition, fees, books and other course materials) is tax free. Scholarship amounts that exceed QEE is taxable income, on the student’s tax return. Room & board are not QEE.
If box 5 of the 1098-T exceeds box 1, TurboTax (TT) will treat the difference as taxable income, unless you enter additional QEE at books and other expenses. It's unusual that it would give you a credit, but not unheard of.
Here's a post on the five main points on the 1098-T:
https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/college-education/discussion/re-what-do-i-do-with-form-1098t/01/37...
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The ability of the parent of a high school student to claim the education credit is limited. If these courses are provided by an eligible college, this cost qualifies for the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC). The school must have policy of granting college credit for that course, already taken, if the student ever enrolls there. In other words, it is a requirement that the course be a college credit course, even if the student isn't currently a college student. It’s not that the student is post-secondary, it’s that the course is post secondary. Books are not a qualifying expense, unless included in the course fee. You must have paid tuition to the college and not the high school in order to claim the expenses on your return.
https://www.taxact.com/support/22177/2023/education-credits-high-school-student-taking-college-class...
High school students are not usually eligible for the more generous American Opportunity Credit (AOC), unless they are officially enrolled as a degree candidate. If you are eligible for the AOC, be advised that you can only claim it 4 times on a student. It is worth up to $2500/year. You may want to save you four times for actual college if dual course/high school gets you less.
