Scholarship paid for fall and spring but i paid for summer school. Why can i not deduct that?

[taxdumax]

Academic scholarship was $15,500. Fall and Spring tuition were $14500. I got the 1098-T for that.

Summer school was $3500. I didn't receive a 1098-T for summer. I added it to the sum that I and the scholarship paid and it ended up being around $18000.

TurboTax says I can't deduct because the scholarship was more than the tuition. That is clearly not the case since I'm out a net total of $2500 that of the original $3500 I thought I could claim.

Can someone explain why I can't get the deduction?

** edit ** corrected wording in the title

[JoannaB2]

Yes.  You may access your lender's website and verify the total amount you paid or financed, You may want to call Department of Education or your lender for a copy of 1098T for the tuition you paid on your summer schooling. 

Scholarship is a tax-free amount paid to a student enrolled at higher educational institution for a purpose of getting a degree or diploma.  The scholarship must be used to pay for tuition, books, lab fees, and related fees. If the total scholarship received was more than the tuition paid or financed, a portion of it may be taxable..  

[taxdumax]

Thank you for the quick reply.

I don't have anything financed. I wrote a $3500 check from my checking account to the university for summer tuition.

The scholarship did not cover the entire cost of tuition because summer school cost an additional net total of around $2500 beyond the value of the scholarship. I'll contact the school for a 1098-T for summer. 

The question remains why, when I put all the financial figures in (showing I paid $2500 more than the scholarship covered), the tax software says I don't qualify for a deduction.

[Hal_Al]

"I added it to the sum that I and the scholarship paid and it ended up being around $18000".

Where, in TurboTax (TT), did you enter that?  That is, does TT know about the extra $3500?

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. $18,000 in your case. 

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There's a new urban myth among college students that says they can get a $1000 from the government just for filing a tax form. For most of them, they simply aren't eligible. A full time unmarried student, under age 24, even if you don't qualify as a dependent, is only eligible for the refundable portion of the American Opportunity Credit if he supports himself by working. You cannot be supporting yourself on parental support, 529 plans or student loans & grants. You usually must have actually paid tuition, not had it paid by scholarships & grants.  It is usually best if the parent claims that credit. 

You cannot claim a credit if you are, or can be, claimed as a dependent by someone else.

[DawnC]

There could be other reasons that you do not qualify for education credits or deductions.   I will leave some links for the three that are available in 2020.   Generally, you don't qualify if you can be claimed on someone else's return, although there are some rare exceptions.  Your income and filing status are also factors and each credit (there are 2) and deduction (only 1 of these) has different eligibility criteria.  The details of each is in the links below.  

You can type in letme (one word) in the search bar and use the Jump to link to be taken to the Education Optimizer where you will see which ones you qualify for and how much, if any, tax benefit each is worth to you.   TurboTax will default to the most beneficial credit or deduction.

What education tax credits are available?

What is the Tuition and Fees Deduction?