Who files the 1098-T, me and the college student if it is under her SSN?

[wandaferrell]

Who files the 1098-T?

[RayW7]

If you claim on your tax return a dependent who is an eligible student, then only you can claim the American opportunity credit based on that dependent's expenses. The dependent can't claim the credit.

I you don't claim on your tax return a dependent who is an eligible student (even if entitled to claim the dependent), then only the dependent can claim the American opportunity credit. You can't claim the credit based on this dependent's expenses.

If there are qualified education expenses for your dependent during a tax year, either you or your dependent, but not both of you, can claim an American opportunity credit for your dependent's expenses for that year. For you to claim an American opportunity credit for your dependent's expenses, you must also claim your dependent on your tax return. You do this by listing your dependent's name and other required information on Form 1040 or 1040-SR.

Expenses paid by dependent. If you claim on your tax return an eligible student who is your dependent, treat any expenses paid (or deemed paid) by your dependent as if you had paid them. Include these expenses when figuring the amount of your American opportunity credit. Note:

Qualified education expenses paid directly to an eligible educational institution for your dependent under a court-approved divorce decree are treated as paid by your dependent.

Expenses paid by you. If you claim a dependent who is an eligible student, only you can include any expenses you paid when figuring the amount of the American opportunity credit. If neither you nor anyone else claims the dependent, only the dependent can include any expenses you paid when figuring the American opportunity credit.

Expenses paid by others. Someone other than you, your spouse, or your dependent (such as a relative or former spouse) may make a payment directly to an eligible educational institution to pay for an eligible student's qualified education expenses. In this case, the student is treated as receiving the payment from the other person and, in turn, paying the institution. If you claim the student as a dependent on your tax return, you are considered to have paid the expenses. Example. In 2020, 

[Hal_Al]

Simple answer: put it on your return, because she is your dependent.

If she any taxable scholarship (basically box 1 exceeds box 5 by less than $4000), it may need to go on both your returns with adjustments.  If this is the case, reply back for instructions on how to enter. 

[wandaferrell]

Yes box 1 is 6543.25 and box 5 is 9469 with a difference of 2926

[Hal_Al]

 There is a tax “loophole” available*. The student reports all his scholarship, up to the amount needed to claim the American opportunity credit, as income on his return. That way, the parents  (or himself, if he is not a dependent) can claim the tuition credit on their return. They can do this because that much tuition was no longer paid by "tax free" scholarship.  You cannot do this if the school’s billing statement specifically shows the scholarships being applied to tuition or if the conditions of the grant are that it be used to pay for qualified expenses.

Using your numbers as an example: Student has $9469 in box 5 of the 1098-T and $6543 in box 1. At first glance he/she has $2926 of taxable income and nobody can claim the American opportunity credit. But if she reports $6926 as income on her return, the parents can claim $4000 of qualified expenses on their return.

You essentially have to use a work around in TurboTax (TT). Here's how I would do it. Enter the 1098-T, on your return, but only enter $4000 in box 1. No other numbers. You only enter the 1098-T to get TurboTax to check the proper box on form 8863. Lying to TurboTax to get it to do what you want does not constitute lying to the IRS.

Enter the 1098-T, exactly as received, on the student's return. In his interview, you should eventually reach a screen called "Amount used to calculate education deduction or credit" Be sure the amount in that box is $4000. That will put all his excess scholarship as income on his return.  

Be advised some people are saying they're not getting the "Amount used to claim the tuition deduction or credit" screen on the dependent’s . The alternate workaround is  to enter $4000 less than the actual box 1  amount, when you enter the 1098-T on the student's return or $4000 more in the box 5 amount.

There's yet another (and simplest) work around. Manually calculate the taxable amount of scholarship and enter the 1098-T, on his return, with 0 in box 1 and the  taxable amount  in box 5.

*This is not some sinister scheme. From the 2019 form 1040 instructions (pg 95): “You may be able to increase an education credit if the student chooses to include all or part of a Pell grant or certain other scholarships or fellowships in income. For more information, see Pub. 970, the instructions for Form 1040, line 18c, and IRS.gov/EdCredit.  Page 16 of PUB 970 (2019) actually has examples of how to do the “loop hole”.

You can both use the 1098-T to enter the expenses. If you claim the tuition credit, you do need to report that you got one (the TurboTax interview will handle this) Your student should use the 1098-T because it makes entering scholarship income go smoother and puts the income in the right place on the tax forms (line 1 of form 1040 with the notation “SCH”).