The IRS questioning the education credit is pretty common. Read the
IRS letter carefully to see which technicality they are after you for.
The most common requirement is you only need to prove you actually paid tuition, with
school statements and cancelled checks and/or bank or credit card statements.
The IRS has begun cracking down on schools that send out a 1098-T with box 1 blank. They
are no longer accepting an amount in box
2, of a 1098-T, as proof that you paid tuition.
If your school did not issue a 1098-T, that could be either an indication that your school is not an eligible institution. But even some eligible schools do not issue 1098-T if grants (not loans) exceed tuition & fees. Again you need o prove that you paid eligible expenses.
See: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/education-credits-questions-and-answers Scroll down to “I received a letter from the IRS questioning my AOTC claim. What should I do?”
As Carl indicated, it makes a difference whether you are the parent or the student
Also see: TT FAQ https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3383321-why-didn-t-i-get-a-credit-or-deduction-for-education-expen...
