Forced to Upgrade to TurboTax Deluxe

[bkschn8]

I am a first year college student and a first time filer for 2021. I filled in the information from my 1098-T form and was told that I did not qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit or the American Opportunity Credit. However, when I reached the File page in order to finish filing my taxes, I was met with a message that says I need to upgrade to TurboTax Deluxe because I have a Lifetime Learning Credit. The only credit that I qualified for was Recovery Rebate Credit. What should I do?

[MarilynG1 · Accepted solution]

Look at your 1098-T.   Is Box 5 a larger amount than Box 1?  If so, you don't qualify for the Education Credits.  The credits are to help you with 'out of pocket' education expenses.

Look at your Form 1040, Line 20.  This is where the Lifetime Learning Credit would show (if you qualified).

In the left-side menu, click on Tax Tools > Tools > View Tax Summary > Preview 1040. 

If you don't see a credit there, you could delete the 1098-T from your return (just keep it for your records) and stay in your current version. 

If you do see a credit, you may want to upgrade. 

Click this link for steps on How to View and Delete Forms in TurboTax Online.