Does room and board also mean renting an a apartment or house.

[mitchnado]

I ve been living in a house but paying rent.

[IsabellaG]

Are you talking about educational expenses or something else?

[mitchnado]

yes for educational expenses. I know i had a student loan to help me cover for rent, utilities and food but i did not live on campus.

[IsabellaG · Accepted solution]

Yes, for educational expenses, room and board includes living off-campus. In either case, those expenses do not qualify for Education Credits, however. Qualifying expenses include Tuition, Fees and other related expenses. See this link,  Qualified Education Expenses for Education Credits: https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Qualified-Ed-Expenses

[PHarper]

Where is room and board entered in turbotax.  The only option is for books and expenses.

[Irene2805]

To enter room and board expenses, please follow these steps:

1. On the Deductions & Credits screen, in the Education section, click Revisit next to Expenses and Scholarships (Form 1098-T)
2. On the screen Your Education Expenses Summary click Edit next to the student's name.
3. On the screen Here's Your Education Summary click the Edit box next to Other Education Expenses (for all schools).  [Screenshot #1, below]
4. On the screen Did You Pay for Books or Materials to attend school? mark the Yes radio button.
5. Enter your room and board expenses in the section that appears below.  [Screenshot #2]

Screenshot #1

Screenshot #2

@PHarper

[caitlinderenne]

Why even enter room and board if it does not qualify as an educational expense??

[JohnW152]

@caitlinderenne

A room and board entry has value for some taxpayers.

Room and board isn’t generally considered a deductible expense, unless it was with a Coverdell ESA or 529 plan distribution. 

It also qualifies for the education exception to the Additional Tax on Early IRA Distributions. 

[SweetieJean]

@caitlinderenne Room and board usually isn't considered a qualified education expense for the purpose of education credits. However, the one exception is if room and board was paid for with a Coverdell ESA or 529 plan distribution. In that case, the cost can be deducted from the taxable part of the plan's distribution.

[caitlinderenne]

But how does Turbo tax even know if it was covered by a 529 distribution? We got a 529 distribution all for tuition but when I enter room costs I'm eligible for an education credit. 

[KrisD15]

After you enter the education section, the program asks if you want to "Maximize My Credit". If you click this bar, the program will match the expenses to the payments for the highest credit. 

If you want to do something different with your distributions and expenses, go back through the Education Section and enter the amount of expenses that you want to allocate towards the credit. 

It is completely allowable to allocate the 529 distributions to Room and Board if you so wish. The IRS will allow the highest credit as long as expenses are not used twice. 

It does not matter if you took a distribution at the bank, walked over to the school and made a tuition payment with the money from the bank. At year end, you can allocate the payment any way you feel fit. 

The IRS shows many examples of how distributions, scholarships, tuition, and room and board can be allocated in different ways to get the best education credit. 

IRS PUB 970