Thank you for your response. I verified that in the IRS's Form 1098-T Instructions, where I found the instructions for Box 1 vague, but then found the paragraph defining "Qualified tuition and related expenses." However, the instructions say nothing about whether books are qualified or not. Since it enumerates expenses that are not qualified, it seems like books are. If that's not true, can you please tell me where that is in the tax code?
Trying to check the accuracy of Box 1, since apparently schools often get it wrong, I found it difficult to figure out how to determine what Box 1 should be. It is to be the total of all payments to the school, with scholarships and loans included as payments, for qualified tuition and related expenses. I had to assume that scholarship monies and loans were paid in the same year as the semester, but amounts I paid out of pocket were not necessarily for a semester in the tax year. This gets messy if scholarships and loan amounts change from one semester to the next and if room and board change, too. So, for the Fall semester everything was in 2021, easy; I knew what to include and what not to. But for the Spring semester, I was paying for Spring 2022's tuition and related expenses but included Spring 2021 scholarship and loan amounts as payment. However, I had to make sure in my accounting that I did not pay out of pocket in 2021 the portion of Spring 2022 tuition that would be paid for with a scholarship. Otherwise, in 2022 I will have to pay tax on that scholarship money. Does it sound to you like I did it right? Is there an easier way?
