So I took the spring 2021 semester off. My 1098-T Box 1 includes payments made for fall 2020 and spring 2021, which is about $25,000 in total ($25,000 for fall 2020 and then $0 for spring 2021 which is the semester I took off) Box 7 is checked off. But Box 5 is including scholarships from the calendar year of 2020, so spring 2020 and fall 2020, which is about $36,000. So to put it simply my scholarship amount is well over how much I paid in tuition. I can no longer qualify for any education tax credit because of this. Plus I am now being taxed on the $11,000 difference because it's considered income. This is not a mistake by the institution, this is how they've reported previous years payments. But because I didn't pay for spring 2021 it's made it seem like I have earned money from attending my college which isn't true. How can I ensure that I'm getting the best return given this scenario?
