Indian Citizen working on F-1 OPT, can I file 1098-T for Education Deduction?

[tacoshell]

I am an Indian citizen working in the United States on my F-1 OPT. I took a part-time course at UC Berkeley in the summer of 2020 and they mailed me a Form 1098-T. When I added it to my TurboTax, it shows that I could receive education credits for it.

If I arrived in the US on August 15, 2015 and was present in the US throughout 2019 and 2020, do I qualify to file a resident tax return? And can I therefore claim the education deduction?

Additionally, I did not receive any stimulus payments but TurboTax claims I was owed both. Is this correct?

[MaryM428 · Accepted solution]

You would not have qualified for the stimulus in 2018 and 2019 as a non-resident alien.  But in 2020  if you are still on your F1 Visa, you can file taxes as a U.S. citizen.  The 2020 stimulus is an advance on 2020 taxes and you will be eligible for both years of stimulus payments.  

You can also file the 1098-T for the education credits for the courses you took in 2020.