<p>So lets say my tuition for the year at school was 1000 but the pell grant covered it and nothing came out of my pocket. When i do my taxes and under the education tab it says cost of tuition do i put 0? Or do i still put 1000?</p>
<p>I assume you are using tax software? You would put 1000 for tuition and the software should ask how much you received in scholarships/grants so you put the amount of the Pell and any other scholarships/grants there.</p>
<p>Scholarships/grants that exceed the cost of tuition, mandatory fees and required books and supplies(note NOT room and board) are taxable to the student. If you can be claimed as a dependent on your parent’s return, only the amount of your other income(from jobs and interest etc.) plus taxable scholarships/grants that is over $5950 will actually be taxed. Make sure you check how your state tax may handle it, it could be different.</p>
<p>I was on scholarship that covered my tuition and fees and nothing more. What ever i didnt use was gone.</p>
<p>I also was awarded a pell grant for two semesters totalling 2400.00 that was refunded to me. I used the 2400 for books, supplies, laptop, and desktop computer.</p>
<p>Check with your parents. If they are taking one of the college tax credits, you cannot do so.</p>
<p>Im 26 . Parents are out of the picture</p>
<p>The laptop and desktop don’t count as qualified education expenses unless the school required every student to have one in order to enroll. That seldom is the case.</p>
<p>If you are using tax software, you enter all the tuition, fees, books and supplies amounts that were billed for or in the case of books/supplies paid for where it asks for it and all the scholarship/grant amounts credited to your account where it asks for those and the program should do the subtraction to determine if any of your scholarships/grants are taxable.</p>
<p>Just saw your last update. Since you won’t be claimed as a dependent by someone else, you will be able to claim the exemption for yourself and have a higher standard deduction before anything is taxed.</p>
<p>I appreciate all your help. My estimate refund was 600.00 last night when i was doing my wife and I taxes. Is it safe to assume i will probably have to pay this year?</p>
<p>If only the $2400 was above and beyond billed tuiton and fees and you subtract required books/supplies from that, there isn’t a lot left over that is taxable. Whether you will need to pay depends on how much you and your wife made from work or got in interest/dividends and how much you had withheld during the year. Being married you have two exemptions and a higher standard deduction. All you can do is run the numbers and see how they come out.</p>
<p>So I guess being a student last year is not going to help me when I do my taxes. I mean that’s not the reason for school, but I was hearing everyone in class talk about the tax break. Oh we’ll at least I was blessed throughout the year.</p>
<p>Perhaps those in your class didn’t have all their tuition, fees and books covered by scholarships and grants and were talking about the American Opportunity Credit tax break. You made out better by having your costs covered.</p>