No option to add college expenses without 1098-T?

[abletl]

In previous years, TurboTax used to ask whether you had an 1098-T when you came to inputting tuition expenses in the education section.  If you didn't, you could answer "no" and enter costs without one.  Now I can't find that question and the program just assumes I have a 1098T.  It's a problem because my son goes to a eligible Canadian university that doesn't provide 1098-Ts.  How can I add those expenses without filling out the 1098-T section?  I have to offset the distribution from a 509 college savings plan.  Am I missing something?

[abletl]

Replying to my own question to say when I go to Forms, I pull up a worksheet with the statement "A form 1098-T was received from this institution in 2020" and a "No" Box checked.  So perhaps this is a non-issue.

[ColeenD3]

You can enter information without the actual form. You did correctly by answering "no".

[Jashalverson]

My dependent daughter did not receive a 1098-T from her university because her scholarships/grants were more than the tuition, and she needs to file for a part-time job.  Since we don't have the 1098-T, we put the amount of the scholarships/grants, but left the box 1 for payments 0, since we don't have the 1098-T.  This makes the scholarship/grant amount taxable with no education expense to offset it - which does not seem correct since my understanding that the part of the scholarships/grants used for education expenses are not taxable.  To correct, this do I put the amount of the education expenses into box 1 of the 1098-T even if we don't have the actual 1098-T from the school?  Or do we instead not include either the scholarship/grant amount nor the education expenses -since we don't have the actual 1098-T?

[JillS56]

Yes, if you leave box 1 empty then the scholarship funds would be considered income.   You have to have an amount in Box 1 to get the credit.   Also, in order to claim an education credit, the IRS requires the filer's federal identification number from the 1098-T. You can't amend your return to add this info later, so be sure to enter it before filing.  What this means, is you have to have the EIN of the college or university that she attends.   

Tuition paid less scholarships determines the amount available for the credit.  The tuition paid must be more than the scholarships to even qualify for the credit.   You have to pay tuition to get a credit.

If the scholarship amount is more than the tuition paid, the excess scholarship funds becomes income and is taxable.

[Jashalverson]

Since I don’t have a 1098t for 2021, can I still add the amount of tuition for 2021 into box 1? And what do you recommend for the education credit? For example, can I use the federal id # from a prior year 1098t that the university provided?

[Jashalverson]

In reading your reply again, since the scholarships were more than the tuition, I guess She doesn’t qualify for the education credit, but can she still add the tuition amount into box 1 (even if the university didn’t provide a 1098t, since the scholarship amount is more than the tuition) to reduce the scholarship amount from all being considered as income?

[ThomasM125]

Yes, you need to enter the tuition and education expenses as well as the scholarship income. If you don't know the federal ID number, you can leave it off as you only need it to qualify for an education credit.