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Level 2
June 6, 2019
Solved

Do I need to report 1098-T that my 18 year old son received, or does he?

  • June 6, 2019
  • 2 replies
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Son earned about $3k working part time - this is his first year filing. However, he received generous scholarships which covered all of his tuition this year. Does he report the 1098-T or do I? 
My searches, seem to indicate that I should report it, as he is a dependent. If that is true, do we just ignore the 1098-T with regards to his filing?

Best answer by

You do. If a student is a dependent on someone else’s tax return, the student doesn’t qualify for the education tax breaks. There will be no entry of the 1098-T on your son's return...only yours.

If you have additional questions or details regarding this, please feel free to post in the comments for further clarification.


2 replies

Answer
June 6, 2019

You do. If a student is a dependent on someone else’s tax return, the student doesn’t qualify for the education tax breaks. There will be no entry of the 1098-T on your son's return...only yours.

If you have additional questions or details regarding this, please feel free to post in the comments for further clarification.


sgtskitzAuthor
Level 2
June 6, 2019
So can you give me an overview with these numbers? From son's 1098-T: Box 2=$15,002; Box 5 =34,272. His reportable earnings from W2= $2,900. Been doing my own taxes for decades, but this is my first time with a college student/dependent.
Hal_Al
Level 15
Level 15
June 6, 2019

Actually, it's more complicated than that.

You report it if you are claiming a tuition credit, but he reports it if he is is claiming taxable scholarship.

Or nobody reports it. The 1098-T is only any informational document. The numbers on it are not required to be entered onto your tax return. However receipt of a 1098-T frequently means you are either eligible for a tuition credit or deduction or possibly your student has taxable scholarship income. You claim the tuition credit, or report scholarship income, based on your own financial records, not the 1098-T. 

If you claim the tuition credit, you do need to report that you got one (the TurboTax interview will handle this).

That said, there is a tax “loophole” available. The student reports all his scholarship, up to the amount needed to claim the American opportunity credit, as income on his return. That way, the parents  (or himself, if he is not a dependent) can claim the tuition credit on their return. They can do this because that much tuition was no longer paid by "tax free" scholarship.  You cannot do this if the school’s billing statement specifically shows the scholarships being applied to tuition or if the conditions of the grant are that it be used to pay for qualified expenses.

Using an example: Student has $10,000 in box 5 of the 1098-T and $8000 in box 2. At first glance he/she has $2000 of taxable income and nobody can claim the American opportunity credit. But if she reports $6000 as income on her return, the parents can claim $4000 of qualified expenses on their return.