topic For education expenses what is the difference in "Books and materials not required to be purchased from the school" and "Other books and course-related materials"? in Education

For education expenses what is the difference in "Books and materials not required to be purchased from the school" and "Other books and course-related materials"?

jm3 — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:51:39 GMT

In the education section, there is the option of adding b...

KrisD — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:51:40 GMT

In the education section, there is the option of adding books and materials required to be purchased from the school, and books and materials not required to be purchased from the school.

The difference is that the Lifetime Learning Credit only counts expenses that were paid to the school, in other words "required" to be purchased from the school. This would cover most trade schools, although the credit can be used for a university or college also.

The American Opportunity Tax Credit is geared for college students and includes expenses paid to the school, and also paid elsewhere, such as an online bookstore.

My question is what is the difference in the materials NO...

jm3 — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:51:40 GMT

My question is what is the difference in the materials NOT REQUIRED TO BE PURCHASED and the next category which is OTHER BOOKS AND COURSE-RELATED MATERIALS, which is the category that follows NOT REQUIRED TO BE PURCHASED.

I have attached screenshots to the answer above. If you a...

KrisD — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:51:42 GMT

I have attached screenshots to the answer above. If you are using 2018 TurboTax Desktop Premier, those are the screens you should see.
Books and materials required to be purchased from the school
Books and materials not required to be purchased from the school
After you enter the amount(s) on that screen and click continue, the next screen shows you the total. It is not asking another question.

My 2018 Turbotax Desktop Premier does not show the same s...

jm3 — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:51:42 GMT

My 2018 Turbotax Desktop Premier does not show the same screens that you show. It asks another question under the Not Required to Be Purchased From School line. It asks for Other Books and Course Related Materials. It asks this question BEFORE you click continue.

I'm sorry, I have never seen that. I would suggest you ma...

KrisD — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:51:45 GMT

I'm sorry, I have never seen that. I would suggest you make sure your software is updated.

"Although you can update over a wireless or dial-up connection, it's best to use a wired, high-speed connection to speed things up and minimize the possibility of data corruption.

Select Check for Updates from the Online menu in TurboTax (Windows) or quit and reopen the program (Mac). If new updates are available, you'll get a message to download them.

If you get disconnected while updating, try again and our update will pick up where it left off.

Windows users: Download a manual update if you're having trouble updating from the Online menu."
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301964">https://ttlc.intuit.com/replies/3301964</a>

My software is updated using a wired high-speed connectio...

jm3 — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:51:48 GMT

My software is updated using a wired high-speed connection. This is a Turbo Tax software issue.

Re: I have attached screenshots to the answer above. If you a...

Rick56 — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 01:47:36 GMT

this question is about turbo tax 2019.

What is the difference between "Books & Materials not required to be purchased from the school" and "Other book & course-related material"

Re: I have attached screenshots to the answer above. If you a...

JamesG1 — Tue, 11 Feb 2020 02:10:55 GMT

The distinctions go back to the legislation underpinning the various education related benefits. See this help.