topic 529 Distribution -Entering Room and Board as Qualified Education Expense in Education

529 Distribution -Entering Room and Board as Qualified Education Expense

rsw006 — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 23:11:14 GMT

Very frustrated - spent 2 hours on phone today with TT. In years past there was a place to enter room and board as qualified expenses to offset 529 distributions, keep them from being taxable. There is nowhere to enter it this year. Rep was no help - please advice on timeline to get it fixed. Thx.

Re: 529 Distribution -Entering Room and Board as Qualified Education Expense

DavidD66 — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:15:00 GMT

You may not need to enter your 529 Plan Distributions. A 1099-Q (reporting 529 plan or Coverdell ESA distributions) isn't always requird to be entered on your tax return. If the total distribution is used for qualified education expenses, then it is generally tax-free and nothing needs to be reported. However, you must enter it if the distribution exceeds expenses or if you are claiming education credits.

Re: 529 Distribution -Entering Room and Board as Qualified Education Expense

Hal_Al — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 02:09:15 GMT

You can't enter room and board expenses yet. This is a known glitch in TurboTax (TT). They are working on it (no announced fix date). The 2025 education and 529 sections appear totally redesigned, from last year.

The 1099-Q is only an informational document. The numbers on it are not required to be entered onto your (or your student's) tax return. The interview is complicated and it's easy to make mistakes. Avoid it if you can and you probably can.

You can just not report the 1099-Q, at all, if your student-beneficiary has sufficient educational expenses, including room & board (even if he lives at home) to cover the distribution. When the box 1 amount on form 1099-Q is fully covered by expenses, TurboTax will enter nothing about the 1099-Q on the actual tax forms. But, it will prepare a 1099-Q worksheet for your records (you don’t need it). You would still have to do the math to see if there were enough expenses left over for you to claim the tuition credit. You also cannot count expenses that were paid by tax free scholarships.

References:

On form 1099-Q, instructions to the recipient reads: "Nontaxable distributions from CESAs and QTPs are not required to be reported on your income tax return. You must determine the taxability of any distribution."
IRS Pub 970 states: “Generally, distributions are tax free if they aren't more than the beneficiary's AQEE for the year. Don't report tax-free distributions (including qualifying rollovers) on your tax return”.
"IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education states: If the entire 1099-Q went to qualified expenses, room and board, tuition, etc; then, you do not need to enter the form."

Re: 529 Distribution -Entering Room and Board as Qualified Education Expense

user17711845260 — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 19:47:10 GMT

Does anyone have an idea as to when this will get fixed? My youngest children's tax returns should be simple and Turbo Tax has now made it more difficult than just doing myself with fill in forms. When I remove the 1099-Q 529 Plan distributions for room and board, it now auto calculates an American Opportunity Tax Credit that she should not be eligible for. I can't wait to try and do my older daughters return who lives off campus and has rent and had 529 plan distributions this year due to a scholarship mixed in with all her rent reimbursements, etc. That will all get reported on her 1099-Q but only part of it should be taxable.

Re: 529 Distribution -Entering Room and Board as Qualified Education Expense

LeticiaF1 — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 23:38:56 GMT

We are aware of this issue and it is being investigated by our tech team.

@user17711845260

Re: 529 Distribution -Entering Room and Board as Qualified Education Expense

Nonnaof6 — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 18:29:42 GMT

I'm having the same issues. I understand that you don't have to enter it if you have qualified education expenses, however, Turbo Tax should still allow a place to enter in the education expenses to make it non taxable when you do enter in the 1099Q. Extremely frustrating!

Re: 529 Distribution -Entering Room and Board as Qualified Education Expense

AmyC — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 18:18:41 GMT

We have been told the room and board should be coming out this weekend. Perhaps as soon as Friday night.

@Nonnaof6