I graduated in 2020. I dont have 1098-T form. How do I file it as a student

[KrisD15]

If you paid higher education expenses, you should have gotten a 1098-T from the college or university. 

You can contact them for a copy. Often you need to go to your online account to get your copy. 

If for some reason they don't give you a 1098-T and you meet the requirements to claim the expenses, you can still enter the amounts in the Education Section under Deductions & Credits. 

If you take this route, be sure to keep a copy of your student account statement and receipts with your tax file. 

The Education Interview will ask the questions to determine if you are eligible for a credit.  

[Hal_Al]

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. 

Two other issues:

1.  There is a 4 time limit to claiming the most generous tuition credit, the American Opportunity (Tax) Credit (AOC or AOTC). Graduation year is usually the 5th calendar year of an undergrad career. So be sure you or your parents didn't already claim the AOC 4 times.  There is a lesser credit available, the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC). 

2.  You may still be you parent's dependent in the graduation year.  Full discussion follows.

Graduation year (written as if the parent asked the question)

If he/she was a student (under 24) for at least 5 months and lived with you for more than half the year, and did not provide more than 1/2 his own support for the whole year, you can still claim him. Be sure he knows you're claiming him, so he doesn't claim himself. He can only be claimed once. But, he can "file taxes" without claiming his own exemption.

The real question is who should be claiming him in this "transition" year to adulthood. You two have to agree on who is going to claim his exemption. Each should do their taxes both ways and see which way the family comes out best.  Even then, you have to meet the rules. The rule is that a child of a taxpayer can still be a “Qualifying Child” dependent, regardless of  his income, if:

1. he is a full time student under 24 for at least 5 calendar months of the year (graduating in May usually means you meet the 5 month rule)
2. he did not provide more than 1/2 his own support  (scholarships are considered 3rd party support and not support provided by the student). 
3. lived with the parent (including time away at school) for more than half the year

So, it usually hinges on  "Did he provide more than 1/2 his own support in 2020.

The support value of the home you provided is the fair market rental value of the home plus utilities & other expenses divided by the number of occupants. IRS Publication 501 on page 20 has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf