The
IRS instructs institutions to report either payments received (Box 1) or
amounts billed for qualified tuition and related expenses (Box 2) on the
1098-T. Depending on the Institution, they may report the billed amount
(Box 2). Therefore, payments received (Box 1) will be blank.
This is very common for box 1
or box 2 to be blank on your 1098-T. The IRS instructs institutions
to report either payments received (Box 1) or amounts billed for qualified
tuition and related expenses (Box 2) on the 1098-T. Depending on the
Institution, they may report the billed amount (Box 2). Therefore,
payments received (Box 1) will be blank.
In TurboTax, you should enter the
information from the 1098-T EXACTLY as printed. Do not put
any amount in box 1 if there isn't a number in there.
Schools can report a student's
qualified expenses one of two ways: based on how much the
student actually paid during the year, or based on how much the
school billed the student during the year. If the school reports the
amount paid, it puts that figure in Box 1 of the form. If it reports the amount
billed, it does so in Box 2. (A school generally has to use the same reporting
method every year. If it changes its method -- which requires IRS approval --
it puts a check mark in Box 3. This box is here primarily for the IRS's
information, not the student
