If your Pell Grant was more than your tuition and school related expenses, the credits will not work, unless you use it for living expenses as well, and other qualified expenses. Read this article from the IRS.
Under current law, a student may choose whether to allocate his Pell Grant (and many other scholarships) to tuition, fees, and course related materials or to living expenses when filing a tax return. This choice is important because if the student allocates his Pell Grant or other scholarships to tuition and fees, the scholarship reduces the amount of expenses eligible to be used to claim education-related tax credits. If allocated to living expenses, however, then the scholarship becomes taxable for the student. (Students have this choice regardless of how the school applies the scholarship.) Maximizing the total value of scholarships and tax benefits can therefore require complicated calculations of the value of the credit (to the student or to the parent, if applicable) relative to the tax liability resulting from counting the scholarship as income. Students may not understand that they have this option, and many would benefit from better guidance in their decision making.
After adding room and board expenses, make sure you go to personal income and enter the Pell Grant as Misc. Income>Other Reportable Income>Pell Grant and amount of Pell Grant.
You can find this in your income amount included after editing1098T; when entering room and board expenses, it says how much is taxable and must be included in income. Usually the outcome is more favorable than not depending on costs for your refund amount. It should go up if it was a pell grant and you report room and board under your 1098T expenses if you paid these, which most people do.
@jashesproject
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
