Our daughter attends a public university in Canada that, per IRS criteria, is an "eligible educational institution." However they do not issue IRS Form 1098-T that normally includes the numbers needed to claim education-related deductions or tax credits. To access the American Opportunity credit in the past, we have simply entered the appropriate expenses (based on our records) into the corresponding fields at TurboTax asks for them. The problem: IRS Publication 970 includes a heads-up that, for 2016, education-related deductions and credits will not be allowed unless the student receives a Form 1098-T from an eligible educational institution. Any suggestions on a workaround for this dilemma so that we can continue to receive the education-related deductions or credits? Thanks in advance.
The IRS criteria is a college eligible to participate in a student aid program administered by the U.S. Department of Education. Based on that criteria, I'm surprised that a Canadian public university would qualify.
You
can do an on-line search for eligible institutions. Does your daughter's University show up? If so, they should be issuing a Form 1098-T. If the IRS requires a Form 1098-T (and, as you note, Pub 970 now states they do), Turbotax cannot provide a workaround because it would create a tax return that doesn't comply with IRS rules.
(Note when searching that the drop down menu for "state" includes areas such as Canada and "Foreign Countries." Only the Government would list Canada and other foreign countries as states!)
Yes, it shows up per the search you describe (University of Victoria, Federal School Code G08370).