college freshman son recvd 1098-T. Son is exemption on my taxes. Should the 1098-T be used as input to the educational credits?
Is that the only use of this form?
If the only thing on the 1098-T is qualified tuition, then it goes on your return if you qualify for the tuition credits. If there are scholarships on there, and they are in excess of the tuition, the amount over would go on his return as taxable income assuming there is enough for him to have to file a return. In that case, there would not be any tuition credits since all qualified tuition would have been paid by scholarships. Sometimes it is possible to have some of the scholarships go towards room and board instead of tuition, making it taxable but leaving tuition to qualify for the credits. Don’t forget that if the tuition amount is not maximized for the American Opportunity Credit then you can also add books.
You may want to verify that the amounts on the 1098-T are the same as your records. Schools are not very good at these.