1098-T line 1 not correct

[anonymouse1]

I entered "other educational expenses" but even after entering books and her room and board we paid to the university, the number shown on line 1 is less than the tuition and fees that we paid for spring, summer and fall tuition according to the statements we got from the school.  Can I edit line 1?

[MarilynG1]

No, enter the 1098-T as issued.  If Box 1 is larger than Box 5, you may qualify for a credit, although you said earlier that your income precludes this.  If so, no need to enter the 1098-T.  If you believe Box 1 does not reflect the correct amount of Tuition Paid, click the link 'this is not what we paid to the school' and enter the correct Tuition amount. 

You can enter 'Additional Expenses' like books, fees, etc. in the Education section.

Her qualifying as your dependent has nothing to do with the 1098-T.  If she was a full-time student for 5 months or more in 2024, and is under age 24, she is your dependent.  If this applies, her income is irrelevant to your return.  Check your entries for her in the Personal Info section. 

@anonymouse1 

[anonymouse1]

Thanks, I did click on "this is not what we paid" and I put in the books, and the room and board, and then I modified line 1 for all the tuition and fees we paid.  I still can't figure out what they counted on line 1, because just tuition and and required fees are more than $754 more than that.  Unless they are not including the $721 we paid but then she changed a class and they credited that to spring bill (we didn't take it out of the 529, we took thousands less than what allowable expenses were because we want to save the 529 funds for this year and next year).  As I understand it, that is allowed since the spring semester started the first quarter of 2025.  Should I also check that box?  Or should I subtract the $721 from the actual tuition and fees we paid in 2024, and only include the tuition and fees *charged* for sessions starting in 2024?

[anonymouse1]

I will try deleting both the 1098-T and 1099-Q because the last time I tried we still had taxable income from the 1099-Q.  I figured out why we lost the $500 dependent credit - because of Roth conversions, we were over $410,000 adjusted income.  I never knew that credit was income-dependent.

[anonymouse1]

@MarilynG1I lost my file (I think because I said don't save after I was trying to make changes, and I assumed it had saved the previous version).  I just got done entering everything again, except the 1098-T and 1099-Q.  But because we had those forms last year, when I switch to Forms, I can see them, but the number fields are blank.  Should I delete these?  The IRS is going to get them from the school and the 529 plan.  I'm not sure if I should enter them and then add in other expenses that weren't listed on the 1098-T?  Just so the IRS doesn't come back and ask why we took tens of thousands of dollars (about $10,000 more than what the school put on line 1 of the 1098-T) out of the 529?

Also, since our daughter earned more than $5050 in 2024, I went to Forms and checked that box, because of the huge Roth conversions (more than doubling our gross income), we didn't qualify for the $500 dependent credit anyway, but is this correct to check that box for her income?  I can't uncheck the box "Qualifies as other dependent" on the 1040, but she just filed and checked that someone else *can* claim her as a dependent but that we *aren't*.  Or does she need to amend her return (which she filed just to get her withholdings back) to say that we *are* claiming her as a dependent (because that's the default, even though we don't qualify for the credit)?

[RobertB4444]

The IRS does not expect to see a 1098-T from you since you don't qualify.  They do not expect to see a 1099-Q from you because you used it all on qualified education expenses (although they could audit you and ask you to prove it.  So it doesn't matter whether those forms are there or not.

If she claimed herself she would get her withholding back and that would be it anyway.  So it makes no difference to her return.  

@anonymouse1 

[anonymouse1]

So, I can't tell - the "forms" are there when I go to form view in TT - will they be filed with ) amounts, with our return if I leave them?  If yes, should I delete them and how?  Everything was copied over (less amounts) from last year's return.

[RobertB4444]

It won't matter if they are filed or not.  They don't count towards anything.  You can delete them if it makes you feel better but if they have a bunch of zeroes on them they don't matter anyway.

@anonymouse1 

[anonymouse1]

@RobertB4444 OK, I'm confused.  According to Table 5 in IRS publication 501, our youngest (under 24 and a full time student who did not pay for more than half her own support in 2024) is a "qualifying child".  Yet on my return TT has her marked as "meets qualifying other dependent" not "child".  But she earned more than $5050 in 2024.  We can't claim the $500 "other dependent" credit because we converted all of our IRAs to Roth in 2024 and that pushed our income over $410,000.  She filed just to get her income taxes that were withheld (federal and the state where she worked) back.  She filed as a nonresident where she worked (even though she lived in that state all year except for a few weeks when she came to visit us) because she 1.  Has a driver's license and is registered to vote in our state and 2.  Lived in 3 different places in the second state during the year (2 different dorms and then summer housing while she was working).  She filed as a resident in our state and claimed the taxes withheld by the other state (though she didn't have any tax liability in either state).  She checked on her federal (and I assume on both states') return that she could be claimed as a dependent on our return, but had not been.

Now, since she is showing up as a dependent on our return and we are not eligible for the credit (why I told her to go ahead and say we're not claiming her), is she going to have to amend her return?  Can I delete her from our return by editing our dependents (it still shows her older brother's information in the questionnaire, and we haven't been able to claim him for years, he's over 24 and earns too much to claim as "other dependent" even though he still lives with us)?  Or is that going to cause a problem if in 2025 we want to claim her as "other dependent" to get the $500 credit because our income will be less than half of what it was in 2024 (provided we don't start converting 401K money)?  As I understand it, she will not be able to claim the AOTC for 2025 even if she doesn't live with us and *does* pay her own rent and living expenses, because she is a full time student under 24 and we have to include the fair market rent of our house and even our grocery and utility bills (divided by 4) as her "support" in addition to what she is actually spending in another state. So even if she paid all her own living expenses those are going to be less than 1/4 of *our* household expenses.

I just don't want to cause a problem for her this year because she said on her return that we are not claiming her as a dependent, and I also don't want to cause a problem for next year (2025 taxes) and beyond by deleting her from our return for 2024 and then adding her back as a dependent in 2025 to get the $500 creidt (even though we will not be eligible for the AOTC because our income will be over $180,000).

[AmyC]

1. A child in college that does not support themselves can be claimed as a dependent regardless of their income. They will not qualify for the child credit - too old. This pushes them into the "other dependent credit". If it is not your child, then there is an income limitation of $5050. 

2. The filing sounds great with residency and non-residency.

3. Since she has already claimed herself, you can't claim her. Your return will be rejected if you try. Go back into the personal information section and mark that you are not claiming her. My only concern would be insurance. If she is still on your insurance policy, they may require her to be a dependent. That would mean amending her returns, getting a PIN for you to file with her and so on. She can get a pin quickly and that would allow you to have her as a dependent. See Get an identity protection PIN.

4. You can claim her again next year as long as she meets the limits.

If you want to mark that she paid over half of her expenses in 2024, this drops her from your return for this year and then you can edit her back in next year. This is a program thing, it doesn't go to the IRS. It just prevents her from going on your actual tax form.

[anonymouse1]

We paid more than half her living expenses in 2024, she only paid for her summer living expenses.  But I thought there was an option to *not* claim her even though we *could* - that's exactly what her return was asking.  How do I go into TT and say we're not claiming her (I don't want to mark that she paid more than half her own expenses when she didn't - in fact, she will probably never pay half if we have to include our entire household expenses divided by the 4 of us as going to support her when she's not even here using electricity or eating our groceries - I think she was in this state for maybe 45 days in 2024, and a large portion of that was spent with her grandparents because they tend to monopolize her when she's back.)?

I have a PIN - I don't know if she does, her brother helped her file.  I don't get how that makes her my dependent.  She's not going to be happy about amending.  She had literally just submitted her return when I told her TT was still marking her as a dependent on ours even though we didn't qualify for a credit and I didn't know how to take her off our return.  So can I just delete her information from our return (TT keeps rolling it in from a previous year's return, it does the same thing with her brother's information, but his says he's not a dependent so he doesn't show up on our form)?

Oh, and I don't think it matters to our insurance company whether we claim her as a dependent on our taxes.  Her brother ceased to be our dependent when he was 22 since he was no longer a student, and was working full time, but we kept him on our insurance until he turned 25 (at the end of a year, and he decided to get insurance through his employer beginning in January rather than waiting until he turned 26 and potentially being without insurance for over a month until it picked up in January).

[DianeW777]

You can remove her as a dependent for 2024, however a dependent is not allowed as an option. Only one taxpayer is eligible to claim a dependent which means there's not a choice on who will claim a dependent/child. The fact that your child did file as though she was independent and did not select that someone such as a parent would be claiming her does not mean she has the right to do so. It seems clear from your statements she is your dependent, which means her tax return should be amended and yours should be filed claiming her.  

Because she did file first, then you would have to mail your tax return to file it accurately. Her return can be amended online with TurboTax. 

• How do I amend my federal tax return for this year?

To make things more clear, and located in one place, the following articles will provide additional guidance.

• Who can I claim as a dependent?
• IRS General Rules for Dependents
• IRS Interactive Assistant
• Rules for Claiming Dependents on Taxes

@anonymouse1 

[anonymouse1]

The link covers who you *can* claim as a dependent.  It doesn't say you *have* to claim them.  If you did, then why is there the followup question on the return asking *if* someone can claim you as a dependent, *did* they?

That implies that the person who *can* claim a dependent can choose not to.

And if we *do* have to claim her as a dependent, then why wouldn't she be able to amend her return(s) (I don't know if states ask this) before April 15, and then we could file after she does, electronically if we want to?  Or we file and don't claim her, and then we both amend our returns (her first)?  I don't get why we would have to file a paper return.  BTW, she didn't use TurboTax, she used a free file provider recommended by the IRS, and her brother says she didn't get a full single person standard deduction like he does, she got something like $500 more than what her earned income was.  So it sounds like the whole thing of her claiming that no one else was claiming her as a dependent didn't make a difference on her return, and it won't make a difference on ours since our income was too high to qualify for a credit.

[KrisD15]

It might not make a difference, or it might. 

If she claimed herself as not a dependent and you are claiming her, your return will be rejected when you try to efile. 

If she indicated that she is a dependent but you're not claiming her, your return with her listed as a dependent may be accepted, but the IRS might question it later. 

The choice of claiming her or not, MAY (or may not)  affect your return, but it would eliminate her ability to have claimed the education credit, so her return might be adjusted. (or you would all need to amend) 

[anonymouse1]

She didn't claim an education credit, and just is getting her withholdings back from federal and state.  I don't want to claim her as a dependent, because it does nothing for us, so can I just delete her information from TurboTax so it doesn't show on our return?  Then claim her (if it's worth anything - we should be able to get the $500 dependent credit because we're not planning on big Roth conversions again this year) in 2025?

Will not claiming her as a dependent in 2024 cause the 529 withdrawals paid to my husband (not her or the university) in 2024 to be disallowed by the custodian (we're not even putting the 1099-Q or 1098-T on our return per advice given by another TT Expert yesterday)?  We're not saying we didn't pay her tuition or room and board, we're just not claiming her as a dependent (like not claiming itemized deductions that we could have) because there is no difference in our tax.