The American opportunity tax credit (AOTC) is a credit for qualified education expenses paid for an eligible student for the first four years of higher education. You can get a maximum annual credit of $2,500 per eligible student, and 60% of the credit is non-refundable which is used to lower liabiltiy and the remaiming 40% will be refunded on the return.
You may not claim AOTC credit for the tuition paid at higher educational institution; if your scholarship was more than the tuition and the difference may be taxable on your income tax return.
You can delete the form:
I have already maxed out that credit 4 times. I was entering straight info off of my 1098-T. It calculated one way. There was a button I accidentally hit that said something to do with whether I paid that toward my school and I think it got selected. I can't get back to the main tuition page to make adjustments and fix this error.
My scholarship was not more than my tuition and this is still an undergrad program
If deleting the form didn't work. you may have to clear the return and start over. In Tax Home Screen, scroll down and click Tax Tools, scroll down again and click clear and srart over (Note: Most of tax information may be deleted).
There doesn't seem to be a way to delete any form or start over for just that section. Have have so many hours inputting other information, starting completely over would be a huge nightmare. There must be a way to alter one section right? I'm not sure why it lets me alter any other information but the tuition is grayed out now that it's been entered.
Is there a way to know if the system is correct in only allowing for 1/2 of the tuition paid to be used as a deduction?
Since you have maxed out the American Opportunity Tax Credit, you would be eligible for the Lifetime Learning Credit.
The maximum Lifetime Learning Credit you can claim in a year is 20% of the first $10,000 of qualified education expenses you paid for all eligible students (or up to $2,000). The credit is reduced (phased out) if your 2020 modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is between $59,000 and $69,000 ($118,000 to $138,000 if married filing jointly). Since this isn't a refundable credit, the credit can't be more than your tax liability.
Also, the amount of the tuition paid is reduced by the amount of your scholarships and grants.