We received a 1098-T from the University of XYZ at the beginning of February that was not correct. My wife and I paid a total of $7602.00 in qualified tuition in 2018, of which $2222.00 was paid in December 2018 for a semester starting in the first 3 months of 2019. The incorrect 1098-T excluded that $2222.00, but it did have Box 7 check, indicating Box 1 had tuition for a semester starting the first 3 months of January. The University acknowledged the error and committed to fixing it. Here we are with the corrected 1098-T and now instead of added back the $2222.00, they've just unchecked Box 7. They said they are going to include the December 2018 payment on our 2019 1098-T. I told them I don't think this is correct protocol, but they said their internal system is making them and it can't be fixed. They said their system is pulling the amount from the effective date (when the semester starts), as opposed to the transaction date, which is how I believe it should. I think they've recorded the payment as received on the effective date instead of the actual transaction date, and it would take too much time to change the dates for every student at the school. And it doesn't seem like they're interested in doing that regardless. According to IRS Pub 970, Prepaid Taxes paid in 2018 for the first 3 semesters of 2019, can ONLY be included on your 2018 taxes. Can they "legally" include a payment made in 2018 on your 2019 1098-T given the instructions and rules from Pub 970? If not, how can I get them to make this change since they clearly don't have any desire to do so no matter what I say? Thanks!
