1099-Q

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
February 2, 2020
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I'm the parent of a college student and I that took a distribution of 10,000.00 from my Maryland 529 plan. The 10,000.00 was used for the beneficiary's college tuition in 2019. If I enter the 1099-Q distribution of 10,000.00 using me as the recipient my tax refund is 5,418.00 but if I use my college daughter (beneficiary) as the recipient my tax refund is 6,819.00. Do I need to enter the 1099-Q data in my tax return? The difference is 1,401.00 so it does not make sense I would lose 1,401.00 by using a college savings plan I set up for my Childs college education.

Pleas advise -

Thanks,

NCperson

Level 15

it is confusing.......and you can't 'double dip'

1) the 1098-T needs to go on YOUR return as along as a) the student is a dependent and b) Box 1 EXCEEDS Box 5 (otherwise the 1098-T goes on the student return).

2) then, the 1099-Q goes on the tax return of whomever's SS# is on the form. That will be the parent if they received the 529 money. It will be the student if the student or the college received the money directly from the 529 plan (sounds like YOU are the 'recipient' the way you described the situation). did you receive the money directly from the 529 plan?

3) assuming the 1099-Q goes on your tax return, be sure you post other school expenses (room and board being the biggest) when asked by TT. failure to post these other expenses that are not reflected in the 1098-T MAY BE the reason you are being taxed on some of the 1099-Q earnings (box 2)

4) and this is where it gets really confusing (if you are not confused already!), if you get the AOC credit or the lifetime earning credit, some of the college expenses were consumed to provide this credit which leaves fewer expenses available to cover the 1099-Q distribution, so it's a form of 'double dip' otherwise. (You can't use some of the expenses to get the credit and then turn around and use the same expenses to reduce the income tax liability on the Box 2 earnings on the 1099-Q). You are better off with the AOC credit or Lifetime earning credit, ,than you are paying taxes on the BOX 2 earnings on the 1099-Q form, so I wouldn't fret it.

5) on another thread I walked through an example of how this all works.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/college-education/discussion/re-handling-various-529-distributions-to-get-to-aotc-in-ttax/01/998255#M23055

if you can post back with some actual figures that are on the 1098-T, 1099-Q and the expenses like Room and Board, we may be able to get you through this. Remember, it's only the Box 2 earnings on the 1099-Q that create potential taxable income for you- nothing else.

Bestvalue888

Level 5

Hi thanks for posting your answers and I do have a big problem here hoping i can get your assistance: I have a college son who just started college in 2019 Fall. He is my dependent and he files tax as well because he has 1099-misc. if $3000. I also know we won’t qualified for AOTC due to our income.

So here is the data:

1. 1098-T $7,000 (box 1 only) - I will report this in my return, correct?

2. 1099-Q $8,000 (box 1 only issued to his SS#) - my son will report this in his tax return, correct? If so, do I need to report Educational Expenses (see below) here or on mine?

3. 1099-Q $26K( box a), $1000 (box b), $25K (box3) issued to me ( parent).

a. I will report this in my return, correct?

b. Educational Expenses: this is tricky sorry...I withdrew the entire 529 by mistake in 2019 thinking 529 is always non-taxable regardless when I use it...mistake.

I paid a total of $15K in 2019 and $12K in 1/2/2020(the billing statement for Spring Semester came out 1/2/2020 so I paid it on 1/2/2020). Can I report the whole total $27K to offset the 529 withdrawal of $34K ($26K + $8k)?

Sorry for the long email but I am very confused and really don’t want to end up with paying a lot of tax on 529.:(

thanks so much!!!

NCperson

Level 15

Uhhh very well explained but I have to take sometime to study and understand LoL as this is complicated but to answer your 3), there is no data currently in box 2 earning. The $2000 is what you are assuming, correct? I will try to read again to understand how you come to that. But I am glad at least what I paid (tuition and room and board) for both semesters can be counted even my second payment was made in Jan. I will ask you more questions when I get a chance to study your note again later on. Thanks so much!

if Box 2 of your son's 1099Q is blank, that means Box 1 and Box 3 are $8,000 and nothing is taxable. Only Box 2 earnings could be subject to tax.

I made up the $2,000 in bullet point 3 just to show the math further down.

So if Box 2 is zero, I wouldn't even put it on your son's tax return, there are no earnings to report so it can't be taxable.