1098-T Question: Why Is Box 1 ($6,725) Higher Than Box 5 ($3,748) When I Didn't Pay Out Of Pocket For Tuition?
I received financial aid for school and didn't pay anything out of pocket. Got my 1098-T form and entered the info but im confused if I actually need to claim this since I never paid anything myself. The school gave me the form but everything was covered by grants and aid. Anyone know what to do with this? When I was filling out my taxes, I entered my 1098-T information and I'm seeing that Box 1 shows "Payments received for tuition and related expenses" of $6,725. But Box 5 shows "Scholarships/grants" of $3,748. The thing is, I didn't actually pay the $6,725 myself - it was all covered by financial aid, grants and scholarships. I'm confused why Box 1 and Box 5 don't match up though. There's a difference of $2,977 between what the school says was paid for tuition ($6,725) and what they're reporting as scholarships/grants ($3,748). Box 4 for "Adjustments made for a prior year" and Box 6 for "Adjustments to scholarships/grants" are both empty on my form. I'm about 1 hour and 55 minutes into filling out my taxes and I'm stuck on this part. Do I need to report this as income? Do I owe taxes on the difference between Box 1 and Box 5? I thought everything was covered and I wouldn't need to worry about this. I'm really confused about how to handle this on my tax return since I didn't personally pay anything out of pocket for my education.
14 comments


Mei Chen
Yes, you need to report your 1098-T even if you didn't pay out of pocket. The IRS needs to know about scholarships and grants to determine if any portion is taxable. If the aid exceeds your qualified education expenses, the excess might be taxable income.
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Jamal Harris
•wait fr? even if I didnt pay anything? ðŸ˜
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Mei Chen
•Yep! Its not about what you paid, its about tracking all the money involved in your education 👀
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Liam Sullivan
Hey, I was stuck with the same issue last month. I used taxr.ai to analyze my transcript and it explained exactly what I needed to report. It costs $4.99 but saved me hours of research and potential headaches with the IRS. Here's the link if interested: https://taxr.ai
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Amara Okafor
•Is it legit? Kinda sketched out by AI tax tools tbh 🤔
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Liam Sullivan
•100% legit! It basically reads your transcript and explains everything in plain english. Saved my butt from making mistakes
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Amara Okafor
•just tried it and wow... why isn't everyone using this?? It literally spelled everything out for me!
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CosmicCommander
lol i was in the same boat last year and ended up owing money bc my grant was more than tuition 🤮
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Jamal Harris
•nooo dont tell me that ðŸ˜
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Giovanni Colombo
Box 5 is super important on ur 1098-T. If that number is bigger than box 1, u might owe taxes on the difference
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Fatima Al-Qasimi
my sister didn't report hers and got a letter from the IRS 6 months later... don't be like my sister lol
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Dylan Cooper
•oof that must have been scary
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Fatima Al-Qasimi
•ya she was freaking out fr fr
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Sofia Ramirez
Always report everything! better safe than sorry with the IRS clowns 🤡
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