Q. The help for employer provided states to not report it again if it is part of 1098-T. Please confirm?
A. That's only half true. Or more exactly, $5250 true.
It's a little complicated. There's pre tax reimbursement and after tax reimbursement.
By law your employer can only give you $5250 maximum, tax free. If your tuition was less than that, and you employer reimbursed it all; it’s safe to assume it does not need to be reported. You do not even need to enter your 1098-T. You have nothing to claim.
If you got more than $5250, the amount above $5250 is usually already included in box 1 of your w-2 and you do not need to enter anything additional on your tax return, about the reimbursement. Since you have essentially paid tax on that part, it is considered your after tax money and that amount can be used to claim the tuition credit.
Colleges may or may not include employer reimbursement in box 5 of the 1098-T (most do not). You will most likely recognize whether they did or not. You may have to ask the school. A follow up question, in TurboTax (TT) after entering the 1098-T is: did you receive any employer reimbursement. Whether you answer yes or no, and how much you enter depends on what's already in box 5. In most cases, the student-employee enters $5250, the tax free part, only.
