Education

You do not have to manually say whether you qualify or not.  You enter your form 1098T accurately, then the system will determine whether you qualify for a credit or not.  One quick way to determine is if your Scholarships, grants etc. in BOX 5 of the Form 1098T exceeds the amount in Box 1, then you most likely, but not necessarily, do not qualify to claim the credit.

Complete the information though because you may have other expenses that qualify that are not on the Form 1098T such as:

Qualified expenses include tuition, any fees that are required for enrollment, and course materials required for a student to be enrolled at or attend an eligible educational institution.  Don't forget books and laptop etc.

Here's how to claim the credit and I recommend you enter this information unless your Scholarships in Box 5 exceeds your Box 1 by an amount that you cannot overcome because then some of the scholarship may become taxable.

ere's how to get to the 1098-T screen if you haven't visited the Education section yet:

1. Open (continue) your return, if you don't already have it open.
2. Search for 1098t and select the Jump to link at the top of your search results.
3. On the Do you want to enter your higher education expenses? screen, answer Yes.
4. Answer Yes to Did you get a 1098-T for the year? and Continue.
5. On the next screen, you can choose how you'd like to add your 1098-T. You can upload a digital copy from your computer or type it in yourself. Select which option you'd like and Continue.

From the Education Expenses Summary screen you can:

• Select Add A Student if you need to enter a 1098-T for someone else (and then resume steps 4 and 5 above); or
• Select Edit to revisit the 1098-T for a previously-entered school or Add New School to enter a new 1098-T.