Dependent scholarshi

[Sbrad]

My daughter has a scholarship that is exceeded by expenses for college and no other income.  Does she need to file a tax return.  We claim her as a dependent and filed the 1098 - T with our taxes.  

I.E.  1098T  Box 1 = 15,974  Box 5 = $10,000 .  Box 5 = $2,000 for Room & Board which is not allowable for claiming as Educational Expenses.

She has no income.

Does she need to file a tax return or can we skip it this year?  I filled out tax return but it was all zero because we claimed her & Turbo Tax said we couldn't file electronically.  I'd rather not send 17 pages to the IRS for nothing.

[MinhT1 · Accepted solution]

Your daughter is not required to file a tax return as she has no income and her scholarship is smaller than tuition paid.

If she is under 24, you can claim her as a dependent and claim her education credits by using the tuition portion not covered by the scholarship.

[Sbrad]

Thank you, 

Yes, she is 20 which is why I am still claiming her.  I fumbled with the Dependent Credit and Education Credit part for a bit, but eventually figured it out successfully.  I just needed confirmation that I didn't have to file her return since she had a 1098T in her name.

[KrisD15]

That is correct. In your case, there is no taxable scholarship income.  If the student had no other income, the student needn't file a Federal return. 

Form 1098-T is used to determine taxable income and/or education credit. 

If taxable scholarship income, that would be claimed by the student.

If education credit, that would be claimed by the Taxpayer that claims the student.