<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I am a second year student and I received a 1098-T from my school. And box 5 (scholarships/grants) of my 1098-T actually exceeds box 2 (amounts billed for qualified tuition and related expenses). I did a bit of research and realized that the major purpose of 1098-T is to determine if one is eligible for the hope credit or the lifelong learning credit. Since I did not pay anything for college, I am pretty sure that I am not eligible for these credits. However, I do understand why box 5 exceeds box 2 substantially. Since irs does not treat house, board, or other miscellaneous expenses for a full time student as tax deductible, thus box 2 of my 1098-T only includes the tuition and some other expenses. My question is that if I need to report the difference b/w box 2 and box 5 as an income?</p>