If the school doesn't tell you that breakdown (and they usually don't), then you are allowed to allocate the expenses any way you want.
There are three things you can do with your Qualified educational expenses (QEE):
- Allocate then to scholarships (so that the scholarship remains tax free)
- Use them to claim an education credit
- Allocate them to the 529 distribution (1099-Q) so that it will not all be taxable
So, using an example: You have no 529 distribution. You have $5000 in box 1 of the 1098-T and $3000 in box 5. You need $4000 of QEE to claim the maximum American Opportunity Credit (AOC). When asked how much of the scholarship went to room & Board, you answer $2000. That means only $1000 of the scholarship is allocated to tuition. $5000 - 1000 = $4000 can be claimed by you for the AOC.
