<p>I have recently graduated from college (may 2010) and start my job around july. I am filling out my taxes using turbotax right now. My 1098T indicated that i have no tuition paid or received in 2010 year. But I have received scholarship that semester. It turned out that my 2010 spring semester's tuition was included in last year's 1098T. Last year I was listed as dependent by my parents, and this year i am claiming myself.</p>
<p>Because of this situation, according to my 1098T, I didn't pay any tuition and got another scholarship as "income". Although the truth is that I did use my scholarship to pay for my tuition, in fact, it was not even all of my tuition. The difference between with and wihtout tuition is over 500 dollars of tax refund. For a first year worker with loans and credit card debt, 500 is a big deal. Can someone tell me if I still can list my tuition although it is not stated in 1098T? Thanks</p>
<p>if you have reputable links/resources, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!</p>
<p>In which calendar year was your last spring semester tuition paid, 2009 or 2010? Was your scholarship applied to your bill? If so, in which calendar year? Or did you receive the scholarship money and then pay the tuition? It’s all about in which tax year was money paid. Do you have bills, cancelled checks or receipts from other forms of payment? 1098Ts can be wrong and it’s up to you to report the correct amounts according to when they were paid.</p>
<p>According to my school, box 1 only includes the tuition billed within that year. For example: I signed up for my 2010 spring classes (my last semester) at end of 2009. As soon as my registration was over, around Dec or late November, the school “billed” me. On the other hand, I didn’t physically pay for spring 2010 classes till my scholarship kicked in, which is during Jan of 2010. Which is why the box 5 of 2010 showed my scholarship amount. My 2010 1098T box 1 and 2 had nothing due to the fact that it was supposedly listed in 2009 1098T’s box 2. </p>
<p>Since my parents claimed me as dependent all these years, and following the logic, only the very first semester of my college (freshman year) had a positive tuition value over scholarship value, I do not know what kind of tax return my parents received. Especially I didn’t work my freshman year (means I personally didn’t see a dime back then). So now i am claiming myself, i owe the govermnent a lot of money, because the spring 2010 scholarship is now “income” because “there is no” tuition listed in box 1 and 2. </p>
<p>According to Turbotax, there is another box I can list tuition values. But I am not sure if I can list my tuition there. We are talking about 1/4 of my tax return difference here. </p>
<p>I hope that cleared things up a bit. Thank you for your help.</p>
<p>Did your parents take the credit on their 2009 taxes for the Spring 2010 tuition that was billed in 2009 and included on the 2009 1098T? If they did, then I don’t believe you can take the credit in 2010 unless they amend their 2009 return.</p>
<p>Also, the 2009 1098T can include amounts paid in the first three months of 2010 without being in error, if I’m not mistaken. We ran into that this year by receiving a 2010 1098T for amounts that had not yet been paid when we received it in Feb 2011. Someone correct me if I’m wrong so we can correct our taxes. :)</p>
<p>The instructions to students section only talks about taking a credit, not reporting any taxable income but I(I’m not a licensed tax advisor) believe the same principle applies no matter how the school does it:</p>
<p>“You, or the person who can claim you as a dependent, may be able to claim an education credit on Form 1040 or 1040A for the qualified tuition and related expenses that were actually paid in 2011”.</p>
<p>It’s when you actually pay the tuition and related expenses, not what’s on the 1098T.</p>
<p>So, in my opinion rongsc, if you paid the tuition in 2010, you should be able to enter the tuition on your 2010 taxes as long as you have documentation. Midwstmom had a good point though, if your parents, improperly in my opinion, took a credit on their 2009 taxes for it then that would change things. You may want to call the IRS, though that can be iffy, or ask a tax professional.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help. If there was a tax credit refund, it would only be in year 2006 because that was the year when I first started college, and the scholarship was always billed one semester later than tuition bill. So for 2009’s tax return, the total tuition is actually the same amount as my scholarships. So no tax refund for 2009. </p>
<p>I know the right thing to do is to not report any tuition for 2010. However, we are talking about over 500 dollar difference. And I doubt my parents remember how much they got back in 2006. But I am 100% sure it is less than 500 because 1. my tuition for that semester is less than $2000. 2. this year’s scholarship is considered income which get taxed more than a education credit refund can give back. I just feel cheated out of this.</p>
<p>rongsc: Maybe you could sit down with your parents and backtrack how all of the scholarship income vs. tuition paid has been reported on their tax forms since you started college. Be sure you understand the actual years the information was reported on taxes. You may find that this last tuition for Spring 2010 has not been claimed on taxes and you are able to claim it this tax year. If nothing else, it will be a good lesson in personal record-keeping for tax purposes.</p>