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Level 2
September 1, 2026
Question

Regarding Non-Qualified but Required Education Expenses

  • September 1, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 33 views

Hello, 

I am a PhD student who had full coverage of tuition and fees by my university for 2025. Among these fees was the student health plan and the transit fee. Since having health insurance was mandatory and the transit fee could not be opted out of, they were both considered fees that were “required to enroll”, even if they were paid for my scholarship money. It seems that health insurance premiums and transit fees are explicitly listed as not qualified expenses for the purpose of LLC and AOTC. However, since they were required for my enrollment, this would mean that they qualify for tax free scholarships (as per 2025 version IRS Publication 970 on page 5)

However, when I did my taxes earlier this year, I believe I paid more than I should as I TurboTax 2025 thought I would be subject to kiddie tax due to my 1098-T having a value in Box 5 that was greater than Box 1. I realized this later after reading this article and am hoping to amend my return but I cannot find a way to tell TurboTax 2025 that the scholarship funds were used for fees that were required to enroll in my degree program. Can I use the same software to file an amended federal and state return? I ended up having to pay a balance for my federal taxes, which I believe I should get back along with a refund. I ended up getting a refund on my state taxes, but they were also subject to CA kiddie tax, so I believe the refund was much smaller than it should have been.

 

My token number is 13915434168795589-81218885. 

1 reply

Level 15
September 1, 2026

I guess I am not tracking with you

  1. you are not eligible for AOTC since you already have an undergraduate degree.
  2. you are not eligible for LLC since Box 5 exceeds Box 1.
  3. << However, since they were required for my enrollment, this would mean that they qualify for tax free scholarships» where EXACTLY on page 5 is this listed? I do not see it. What you are suggesting (and I do not see this in the publication) that you are permitted to subtract the health and transit fees from the Box 5 total.  Where is this “explicitly” stated? did you follow the worksheet on page 6? 
  4. On the kiddie tax issue, how old are you? if you are older than 23 as of 12/31/2025 (for tax year 2025), you are not subject to kiddie tax.