Amount paid to University in 2020

[mbuendia1]

Hello, I had my tuition paid fully by a scholarship and was wondering if for the question stating "Enter the Tuition You Paid", do I enter the tuition/fee amount for the 2019-2020 school year, or do I enter the tuition/fee amount for the year 2020(which would be a portion of the 2019-2020 school year tuition and a portion of the 2020-2021 school year tuition)? Thank you!

[Hal_Al]

You enter the amounts paid in calendar/tax year 2020. Include any payments that were for academic year 2021, if actually paid in 2020.

[mbuendia1]

Thank you for your quick response! Since my school disperses my scholarship on a quarterly basis, then I should enter the amount they dispersed in 2020. In that case, I believe my school dispersed one quarter's worth of my scholarship in 2019(my first year) and I did not enter that in last year's tax return. What should I do about this? My scholarship exceeds the tuition and fees so I need to report this as I believe it is technically income. 

[Hal_Al]

Q.  I believe my school dispersed one quarter's worth of my scholarship in 2019(my first year) and I did not enter that in last year's tax return. What should I do about this? 

A. Probably nothing. First you need to determine if that changes anything. You may have had offsetting expenses (tuition, books, computers etc). For most student dependents, filing a tax return, additional scholarship income, not exceeding their standard deduction will not make a difference.  

If it does, you may have to file an amended 2019 tax return.