Scholarships, FAFSA, and Taxes...Help!

<p>Okay, I have received my 1098T from my university. For the fall of 2012, I received $10,905 in scholarships and grants. My qualified expenses (Tuition, Fees, and Books) were $3,973.02. I also earned around $1,000 from a summer job. </p>

<p>How much of my scholarships were reported to the IRS? How much do I have to claim on taxes?</p>

<p>Also, I took classes in the spring of 2012 at my local university while I was still in high school. My tuition was waived, but I paid for my fees and books. How does this affect anything? How do I "claim" it? I didn't receive any scholarships....it was just an agreement between my high school and the university that tuition for high school students is waived.</p>

<p>Thank you so much in advance!</p>

<p>

Your 1098-T indicates to IRS that you received $10,905.</p>

<p>

$10,905 - $3,973 = $6,932</p>

<p>Always talk to your tax expert for any tax questions.</p>

<p>Don’t worry about the spring 2012 stuff, there is nothing taxable there.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I agree, but according to the OP, he paid for books and fees for that Spring Semester, which should make them a valid deduction as an educational expense.</p>

<p>From IRS pub 970:</p>

<ol>
<li>Enter your scholarship or fellowship income for 2011
•
If you are a degree candidate at an eligible educational institution, go to line 2.
•
If you are not a degree candidate at an eligible educational institution, stop here. The entire amount is taxable. For information on how to report this amount on your tax return, see Reporting Scholarships and Fellowships, later, in this chapter.</li>
</ol>

<p>I’m not an expert but I don’t think expenses while not a degree seeking student and still a high school student can be used to offset scholarships/grants.</p>

<p>How would I not be a degree seeking student? Those classes that I took are all counting towards my degree. I was a part-time college student…I took 6 hours in the spring 2012 semester.</p>

<p>When doing my FAFSA, do I have to list the $10,905 worth of scholarships into my income? Doing that, I can only claim $3,973 as qualified expenses. The other $6,932 counts purely as income? That doesn’t seem right as that money didn’t go into my pocket…it paid for my room and board. I hope this made sense…the whole process is quite confusing and I’d be lost without CC!</p>

<p>The $6932 that is taxable will be included on fafsa when you copy your adjusted gross income(AGI) from your tax form to the fafsa AGI question. Later on there is a fafsa question that asks how much taxable scholarship/grants you reported to the IRS. You enter $6932 there. The fafsa formula will subtract the $6932 from your AGI so you aren’t penalized by that for future aid.</p>

<p>Even though the $6932 didn’t go into your pocket you did benefit from it by it going toward room and board.</p>

<p>Annoyingdad - Thank you for clarifying! That’s exactly how I listed it on the FAFSA, but I just wanted to make sure!</p>