Can I claim my son's 1098-T on my tax return?

[young11]

I am claiming my 23 years old son as dependent.  However, as he made more than 18k in 2021, he must file his own tax return.  He received 1098-T in his name just like previous years.  In previous years, he didn't earn wages, so I had claimed his 1098-T in my tax returns.  In 2021, he earned more than 18k so he has to file his own tax return.  Can I still claim his 1098-T on my TurboTax return or does he have to claim it on his return? 

Thank you in advance for your input. 

young11

[Ruthlilycat]

I don’t think both of you can claim it, just one of you.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-1098-t

[RaifH]

If you are still claiming your son, then you also claim the education credit that he is eligible for. If your son filed as a dependent, he is not allowed to take any education credits. Even if he included Form 1098-T on his return, it should not have awarded him any education credits. If he has already filed, you can check his return to make sure everything was done correctly:

• Form 1040, the box You as a dependent should be selected in the Standard Deduction section
• Form 1040 Line 29 and Schedule 3 Line 3 should be empty. If there is no schedule 3, that also works.

If that is how his return appears, that means he filed as a dependent and his return does not include any education credit. You should claim him and the education credit on your own return. 

If your son did not file as a dependent, you can file an amended return for him to correct the error, assuming he still was your dependent. If he was a full-time student for at least five months of the year and he did not provide more than half his own support, he was probably your dependent. You can check the full qualifications here. You will have to mail in your own return to claim him, as it will be automatically rejected if you try to claim someone who has already filed a return. 

You can also let his return stand as it is if he is not your dependent, but it does mean you would not claim him on yours. 

[young11]

Thank you.  I have claimed the 1098-T in my return. 

[young11]

Thank you.  I have claimed him as a dependent including his 1098-T/education credit.  He has filed his own return marking that someone can/will claim him as a dependent, no education credit was claimed.  

[KrisD15 · Accepted solution]

As long as your income is below the limits, and if the 1098-T shows more expenses (Box 1) than Scholarships (Box 5) you should get an education credit based on those excess expenses. 

It does not matter what the student earned as long as the student is your dependent. 

If there were more Scholarships than expenses, the excess scholarship income is claimed by the student. 

Don't forget about expenses which may not be listed on the 1098-T such as books and supplies. 

Pub 970