Not always. Keep in mind that the school generally finalizes any 1098-T's to be issued during the 1st week of December each year. So if you pay the fall semester for the next calendar year after that 1098-T is "cut" and before Dec 31, that payment will "NOT" be included in the 1098-T.
Basically, the 1098-T is informational only to the student. It's usually more accurate to use the information from the student's online college account. The student can log into their college account, go to the financials section of their account and get all that they need right there.
When doing the college account thing, it's important to pay attention to "PAYMENT" or "CREDIT" dates, and not the date of the class that payment or credit is for. As a reminder:
- Qualified education expenses are claimed in the tax year they are actually paid. it *does* *not* *matter* what tax year is paid *for*.
- Scholarships, grants and 529 distributions are reported in the tax year they are received. it flat out does not matter what tax year it is *for*.
