Scholarship amount wrong in TurboTax Deluxe

My son's 1098-T has scholarship amounts going back to 2018. It also didn't include any of the Spring 2020 scholarships, so I added them in the "Other Scholarships" box. On the next page, I selected "Yes" for "How much... was not designated for 2019 expenses?" and entered an amount which was supposed to reduce the inflated scholarship amount to the correct value. On the next page for Room & Board paid with a scholarship, I selected "Yes" and a box opens up asking me "How much of the $__"... The dollar amount shown is the inflated (1098-T + Spring 2020) amount - NOT the reduced figure. Is this a error in the program or did I do something wrong?

AmyC
Expert Alumni

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Please do not add 2020 scholarship into the program. That will come next year on the 2020 1098-T form. I am also going to recommend you look at another of my answers for help. 

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Thanks for answering. I added the Spring 2020 scholarships because they are on the invoice I paid and are to offset the invoice charges. I was told last year to do this, by someone at TT, since by the time my son finishes college, the semester after he has graduated, he will get a 1098-T with just scholarship amounts. He is getting the NY State Excelsior scholarship and the amounts for Fall 2018 finally showed up on this year's 1098-T. I still don't understand why the scholarship amount is inflated even after I put in an amount to offset it. 

AmyC
Expert Alumni

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Ahhh, so you are wanting the scholarship to go with the tuition. Each school does things a little differently. We see scholarships one year and tuition another. You have to work with what your school does to be best for you. Paperwork trail is the key.

 

We also see schools change they way they report from year to year. It is really a guessing game at any given time with the schools and how they will report.

 

The schools are still pretty new to things having to be official. The 1098-T was informational for years and had no tax value. They switched it to required and valuable and the nightmare began.

Good luck! 

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So... If I got credit on my college invoice for a scholarship, which doesn't show up on the 1098-T, I can add it in the "Other Scholarships/Grants/Fellowships" box? Then in the next page, I say "Yes" that some of the 1098-T amount wasn't for 2019 and put the amount of the 1098-T box 5 that was for the 2018 tax year?

ThomasM125
Expert Alumni

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That sounds correct. When you finish your tax return, before you submit it, you can print out your tax return and review form 8863 "Education Credits" to see if the education credits are calculating properly. Or, if you have taxable income, it will show as an addition to the amount on line 1 of your tax return, "Wages, Salaries and Tips."

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