room and board college

[juhlenberg]

Where do I enter room and board expenses for college when 529 funds were used?

[RobertB4444]

You will enter your 1099-Q in the education section of your deductions and credits on your federal return.  

You'll enter all of your expenses in the 1098-T tuition section of the return.  That will give you a space for the room and board as well.  As long as your total expenses exceed the 1099-Q then it will still not be included in the return.

[Edited 01/04/2025  09:47 AM PST]

@juhlenberg 

@juhlenberg 

[Hal_Al]

To get the screen to enter Room & Board, answer yes when asked if you have book expenses, in the 1098-T/educational expenses section

You can just not report the 1099-Q, at all, if your student-beneficiary has sufficient educational expenses, including room & board (even if he lives at home) to cover the distribution. When the box 1 amount on form 1099-Q is fully covered by expenses, TurboTax will enter nothing about the 1099-Q on the actual tax forms. But, it will prepare a 1099-Q worksheet for your records. You would still have to do the math to see if there were enough expenses left over for you to claim the tuition credit. You also cannot count expenses that were paid by tax free scholarships. You cannot double dip! 

References:

1. On form 1099-Q, instructions to the recipient reads: "Nontaxable distributions from CESAs and QTPs are not required to be reported on your income tax return. You must determine the taxability of any distribution." 
2. IRS Pub 970 states: “Generally, distributions are tax free if they aren't more than the beneficiary's AQEE for the year. Don't report tax-free distributions (including qualifying rollovers) on your tax return”.