1098-T form showing incorrect amounts - scholarship in box 5 but tuition in box 1 doesn't match?

This is actually a common issue with 1098-T forms, and it has to do with the reporting method your school uses. Schools can report tuition either when it's billed (the old method) or when it's paid (the newer method most schools use now). It sounds like your school is using the billed method for 2023 and might have switched to the paid method for 2024, causing this confusion. What matters for your taxes is when you actually paid the qualified education expenses, not necessarily what's on the 1098-T. The form is meant as an informational document, not the final word on what you can claim. You should calculate your qualified education expenses based on when you actually made the payments. If you paid in 2024, those are 2024 expenses for tax purposes, regardless of when the school billed you. Keep records of your actual payment dates (bank statements, receipts, etc.) to support your tax filing in case of questions. For education credits like the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit, you need to report expenses in the year you paid them, not when they were billed.

I ran into this exact issue last year and found that taxr.ai was super helpful! I was freaking out because my 1098-T had like $3000 less than what I actually paid for the year, and my school gave me the same runaround about "billing cycles" versus actual payments. I uploaded my school account statements and 1098-T to https://taxr.ai and they analyzed everything and gave me a detailed report showing exactly what I could claim for education credits and when. They explained how to properly reconcile the differences between what my school reported and what I actually paid. Saved me from potentially losing out on like $1500 in education credits! The tool also gave me documentation to keep with my tax records in case the IRS ever questions the discrepancy. Really gave me peace of mind.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai since I was skeptical before. I decided to try it with my complicated scholarship/tuition situation, and wow - it actually worked incredibly well! I had three different scholarships and paid tuition for two semesters that were billed in different years. The analysis broke everything down semester by semester, showing which payments counted for which tax year based on when I actually made them. It even explained which part of my scholarships were taxable vs. non-taxable (something my university never explained). My refund ended up being over $1,200 more than what I would've gotten if I'd just blindly followed my incorrect 1098-T. Definitely recommend for anyone dealing with these education tax form issues!

If you're still having trouble getting a straight answer from your university's financial aid office, I'd highly recommend using Claimyr to connect with the IRS directly. I was in a similar situation with mismatched 1098-T forms last year, and after weeks of my university giving me the runaround, I finally needed an official answer. I tried calling the IRS myself but kept getting disconnected after waiting on hold for hours. Then I found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent was actually super helpful and walked me through exactly how to properly report education expenses when the 1098-T is incorrect. She explained that this happens frequently and gave me specific guidelines for my situation. Totally worth it to get an official answer directly from the source!

I need to eat my words and follow up on my Claimyr comment! After weeks of failing to reach the IRS about my education credit questions (was literally hung up on four separate times after 1+ hour holds), I decided to try Claimyr as a last resort. It actually worked exactly as described. I got a text about 45 minutes after starting the process saying they had an IRS agent on the line, and then I was connected immediately. The agent was able to pull up my file and confirmed exactly how to handle the mismatched 1098-T situation. The agent explained that I should report what I actually paid in 2024, not what the school reported in box 1. She also gave me specific advice about documentation to keep in case of an audit. Honestly saved me so much stress and probably prevented me from making a costly error on my taxes. I'm shocked but impressed.

I work at a university bursar's office (not your school) and can provide some insight into what's happening. Schools have two methods for reporting on 1098-Ts: the billing method and the payment method. Sounds like your school uses the billing method, which reports amounts when they're billed rather than when they're paid. Here's what might be going on: Let's say your fall 2024 semester was billed in December 2023. Under the billing method, that would appear on your 2023 1098-T even though you paid it in 2024. Then your scholarship was applied in 2024, which appears in Box 5 of your 2024 1098-T. The weird "cumulative" calculation they mentioned is unusual though. Box 1 should generally show amounts billed during the calendar year, not some cumulative multi-year calculation. That part sounds like there might be an error in their reporting system.

Something similar happened to me but I just went with what TurboTax suggested. It asked me to enter the info from my 1098-T exactly as it appeared on the form, and then asked additional questions about when I actually paid expenses and when I received scholarships. The software seemed to figure it out and even explained that the 1098-T was just for reference and that my actual payment dates determined what I could claim. Has anyone else tried using tax software for this situation? Did it handle everything correctly?

This is such a frustrating situation that way too many students face! I went through something similar when my university switched their billing system mid-year. What helped me was creating my own detailed timeline of when each payment was actually made versus when things were billed. Here's what I'd recommend: First, gather all your documentation - bank statements showing when scholarship funds were disbursed, your student account statements showing payment dates, and any correspondence about the billing dates. Create a simple spreadsheet tracking the actual payment dates versus what appears on your 1098-T. The key thing to remember is that for tax purposes, you claim education expenses in the year you paid them, not when they were billed. So if your scholarship paid your tuition in 2024, those are 2024 expenses for education credit purposes, regardless of when the school says they "billed" you. Don't let the school's confusing explanation about "cumulative payments" throw you off - that sounds like an internal accounting issue on their end, not something that should affect your tax filing. You have the right to claim credits based on actual payment dates, and the IRS expects discrepancies between 1098-T forms and actual tax filings because of exactly these kinds of timing issues.