<p>my son received a full univ ride through fed grants/scholarships. He'll have approx $10K in taxable scholarships & pay about $850 for fed/state combined. I'll claim him as a dependant on my tax return. We are Not getting a 1098t from the univ because all tuition/fees were paid with financial aid. My ques is regarding the Amer Opportunity Credit. We did pay approx. $400 out-of-pocket for books/supplies for the year. He does meet the requirements for the credit (accredited college, fulltime studnt, etc.). Based on this should I qualify for this credit? I'm reading conflicting info and not sure what to do. Some say I'm not eligible because all tuition/fees were paid by scholarships, and others say different. </p>
<p>I tried TaxAct & Turbotax & got conflicting results (honestly i'm not sure if I entered the info correctly in the programs). So, in the section of "Education Expenses", it asks for tuition/fees not on a 1098, books/materials, scholarships not on a 1098, How much of scholarships were used to pay Qualified Expenses, etc. Am I suppose to enter all of this info to determine eligibility since those were paid with finaid or am I suppose to only enter the sections that was paid for out-of-pocket? if I answer all questions it says I'm not eligible, but if I enter just books/supplies, leave everything else blank, it says I'm eligible.</p>
<p>He should be getting a 1098T, even if FA fully covered his tuition/fees. Ask him to look at his FA account online and see if there’s a link…some colleges just expect the kid to print it and don’t bother with mailing.</p>
<p>Since you’re claiming him as a dependent, my understanding is that he can’t take the AOC (see Pub 529) but you can. It sounds like you would just have the books/supplies to use for the credit. I’m not a CPA but wouldn’t worry about all the rest of the 1098 info on your return since it’ll be reported on his.</p>
<p>sk8rmom, schools aren’t required to provide a 1098T if scholarships/grants cover QEE. My son’s didn’t provide one either. It may be a change this year but it’s definitely on the 1098T instructions to institutions that it isn’t required.</p>
<p>sk8rmom, thanks for your reply. I actually contacted the Bursar dept. & was told that since full tuition was paid with financial aid he is not eligible for a 1098t. I was suprised because we did get one last year & that was the case then as well. I did some research on the univ & IRS websites & the IRS American Opportunity Credit site (Q&A) Question#18 stated the following: “You do not have to file Form 1098-T or furnish a statement for: Students whose qualified tuition and related expenses are entirely waived or paid entirely with scholarships;”. I didn’t realize this so is good to know. Looked on the FA online acct also, & no 1098t listed, just the one from last yr. </p>
<p>It makes since what you said about not worrying about all the other 1098 stuff since he’s reporting on his taxes. He’ll be including just the taxable scholarships though. From memory in the “Less Common Income/Taxable scholarships” section, I don’t think that it asks for the other stuff such as Qualified Education Exp, total schlrs, it only asks for the Taxable amount not including the QEE. The way I calculated the taxable portion was basically adding ALL 2011 scholarships/grants (federal Pell, state grants, univ schlr). Then I subtracted the Qualified Educ Exp (tuition/fees/books)from the total schlr/grants which then gives me the taxable amount. Do you know if this was done correctly? Also, I guess if I plan to take the AOC on the books/supplies, then he would Not deduct that amount as part of his QEE. Oh, How I hate tax time!!</p>