1098T box 1 blank/ recent college grad

[var_1]

I graduated in 05/2020 and throughout college I was claimed as a dependent. Now I plan to file this year as an independent. I am unsure on what I should do. My 1098t has box 1 empty. It shows all of my scholarships and grants I used to pay tuition for the Spring 2020 semester in box 5. I have my school statements from 2019 that show when I registered and the date I began getting billed during 11/2019. My scholarships and grants didn't kick in until the end of 1/2020. Spring 2020 was paid that same semester and I even received a small $800 refund check after it was paid off. When I tried filing it shows as If the 16k in scholarships and grants were income. 

My colleges financial aid page says this: 

"Box 1 will be empty if you were billed for the spring 2020 term in 2019.  In this case, these tuition charges would have appeared on your 2018 1098-T. This is the case even if you made all of your payments in 2020.  There may still be amounts in other boxes, which is why a 1098-T form was generated for you."

This confused me more and scares me because I don't want to make a mistake. Is this normal or do I need to contact the school to have this corrected?

[Hal_Al]

It's normal. Don't contact the school. Based om numerous comments, here in the forum, it's an exercise in futility.

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 deduction or possibly your student has taxable scholarship income. 

If you claim the tuition credit, you do need to report that you got one or that you qualify for an exception (the TurboTax interview will handle this)

You claim the tuition credit, or report scholarship income, based on your own financial records, not the 1098-T. In the 1098-T screen, click on the link "What if this is not what I paid the school" underneath box 1. You will then be able to enter the actual amounts paid. You will also reach a screen that allows you to adjust the scholarship amount for "amounts not awarded for 2020 expenses".

[var_1]

I want to ensure that I understand correctly. Does this mean I should put in the box the actual tuition for Spring 2020? If I do this it won't interfere with the previous tax year? 

[Hal_Al]

It means you're not bound by the 1098-T.  But, you need to understand what really happened and adjust accordingly. 

It  won't interfere with the previous tax year, if you reported the previously year correctly.   If I understand your situation correctly, all you need to do is enter the amount from box 5, that applies to the 2019 charges, in the box  "amounts not awarded for 2020 expenses", in the scholarship section. 

But a simpler solution would be to just change the box 5 amount when you enter it.