I have two student loans with the same lender US Department of Education that's through Great Lakes. (they're both in my name) I've got two questions. Do I need to list the student interest on these two loan separately or can I combine the interest from the two loans since they're both in my name and the same lender? Also when I list the name of the lender should I list the US Department of Education and Great Lakes or is US Department of Education enough information? Thanks
I did receive two separate 1098-E forms for the two loans. So I would assume I'd report them separate even though they're both in my name and through the same lender
You should report them separately. It will appear as one amount on your tax form, but when you electronically file, the IRS gets the back-up information. In addition, they will look more at the EIN for identification, rather than the name.
It didn't have a box for me to enter a EIN number. It only had a box for the lender name and the second box was the amount of interest. Should there be a box for a EIN number for the lender? Thanks for your answer
If I didn't physically make any payments to my student loan, but I reconsolidated and received a 1099 - do I still claim that paid interest?
@smilesatcamp. Yes, include on your return that you paid student loan interest. With consolidation, your old loans (principal plus interest) are “paid off.” So in the process, you effectively paid interest on these loans. You may get a tax deduction for student loan interest paid. As long as your income is less than the threshold, you’ll get a tax break for student loan interest paid, even though you didn’t actually make a payment toward your loans.
Can I deduct student loan interest I am paying for my adult daughter?
You can possibly deduct the student loan interest for your daughter, depending on the circumstances. If you took out the loan yourself (so your name is on the 1098-E every year), and she was your dependent and an “eligible student” at that time, then there’s a good chance.
Here’s a TurboTax discussion about the 1098 issue, and here’s the IRS describing the basics of qualifying for the deduction. They also give us some more hoops to jump through (which many people skip) here in Publication 970. (The “Adjustments to Qualified Expenses” thing can be really messy to figure out, especially years later, but the main point is that the loan was indeed used for education, and that there were enough related expenses to justify this deduction.) I hope this was helpful, @mklebe6!