My school combined my expenses for 2015 and 2016 on my 1098T. Should I edit the values on this form to report my education expenses for the American Opportunity Credit?

[calcagno007]

Should I only include the amount that is for 2016? Or do I just record what is in the boxes on my 1098T?

[MichaelMc · Accepted solution]

You can only claim expenses that you actually paid in 2016, no matter what is reported on Form 1098-T. Pay special attention to instruction 5, below, to enter the correct amounts for your 2016 tuition and fees. 

1. Open (continue) your return in TurboTax, if it's not already open.
2. In the search box, search for 1098-T or 1098T (lower-case works also) and then click the "Jump to" link in the search results.
3. Answer Yes to Do you want to enter your higher education expenses?

• If you land on the Let's estimate how much you could get this year, click Skip this.
• If you land on the Your Education Expenses Summary screen, first select Edit next to an existing student or select Add a new one before proceeding.

Answer any questions that follow. After a few screens, you'll be asked if you received a 1098-T. Answer Yes and click Continue.

Enter your Form 1098-T exactly as you see it, even if you think it's wrong. Here are some important tips:

• If any boxes on your 1098-T are blank, leave them blank. Don't enter 0 (this may cause errors later).
• If boxes 1 or 2 on your 1098-T form are wrong, enter those amounts anyway. Then click What if this is not what I paid? right below box 2 and enter the correct amount of tuition paid.
• Don't include grants not already listed in Box 5. We'll ask about those later.

Click Continue when you're done entering the information from your 1098-T. Answer any additional questions on the following screens.

[calcagno007]

Thank you for the response!