Should I report my scholarships if they were used only for tuition, fees, and books?

[jrock100]

When I put the scholarship in the box of "other scholarships", it cuts my refund in half. It was used only for tuition, fees, and required books. It was a scholarship through the school and did not show up on my 1098 T. In fact my 1098 T just has zeros in box 1 and 5, while box 2 is blank.

[KrisD · Accepted solution]

Are you sure you received a scholarship in 2017? Check your school account records. It sounds like the school may have billed in 2016 for classes that started in January of 2017. It also sounds like the scholarship paid for those classes in 2016. If this is the case, there would be nothing for you to report. 

[jrock100]

I began to receive my scholarship in 2016, but every semester there is a bill to start classes and I go to the financial aid office to verify my scholarship. After it is verified, the bill then becomes a zero balance. I went to school for all 3 semesters in 2017. I am confused if it is supposed to be reported this year then?

[KrisD]

I do not know why the school did not report anything on your 1098-T. If you received scholarships, but the money paid your education fees, and there was nothing left, you would not report the scholarship as income. If you did not use any scholarship money for living expenses, only for tuition, do not report it.

[jrock100]

Thank you so much! Looking back at my student portal, I can pull every semester's receipt starting in 2016 to present and see "Academic Achievement Scholarship" paying everything due in full. This scholarship was not a check written to me, but just automatically covers any tuition due. So, just to clarify, I should leave the box of "other scholarships" blank under the Deductions/ School tab on TurboTax?

[KrisD]

Yes, leave the box blank. You should not report "other scholarships" because you did not get any other scholarships, the school got them. Save your receipts with your tax file. Sounds like you are good to go.