KrisD15
Expert Alumni

Education

 

You report the expenses you paid in the tax year that you paid AND the costs must be for classes you took that tax year and/or the first three months of the following year. 

 

Again, only what you paid top the school in 2020 should be on the 2020 1098-T. 

Whatever you paid in 2020 are expenses you can claim if those expenses were for classes you took in 2020 AND/OR the first three months of 2021. 

 

So, if your classes start January, February or March 2021, if you paid in 2020, you claim those expenses on your 2020 tax return. If you paid or will pay for them in 2021, they will go on your 2021 tax year return next year. 

 

BUT- if you paid late in 2020 for classes you took in 2019, the expenses don't count. You can't pay late the following year and you can't pre-pay further than the first three months of the following year either. 

 

 

IRS Pub 970

 

@melanieft1

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