You can only claim an exception to the 10% early withdrawal penalty for education expenses if the distribution was received from an IRA, SEP, SIMPLE IRA* and SARSEP Plan. Please click the IRS link below for verification of this rule.
If you did withdrawal money from an IRA eligible account in 2018, then you must check the box that indicates it was an IRA account when you enter your 1099-R form. See the (screenshot) below for reference.
Once you have entered your 1099-R form you will be prompted to answer questions related to your exception. However, you must tab through many pages before you get to the input screen. You will be asked questions related to your education exception on the screen following the screen titled "Let's See If We Can Lower Your Tax Bill".
Please view the IRS link below to view the exceptions to the 10% early withdrawal penalty.
https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/plan-participant-employee/retirement-topics-tax-on-early-distri...
