Can I claim American Opportunity/Lifetime Learning Credit without receiving a 1098-T form?

Yes, you can still claim education credits even without a 1098-T for 2023! The IRS rules focus on when you were enrolled and when you paid qualified expenses, not just whether you received the form. Since you paid your Spring 2023 tuition in December 2022, those expenses would actually have been eligible for your 2022 tax return. Education expenses are claimed in the year they're paid, not necessarily the year you take the classes. Your 2022 1098-T should have included those payments. For your 2023 return, you would only be eligible to claim expenses you actually paid during calendar year 2023. If you didn't make any qualified education payments in 2023, then you wouldn't have education credits to claim for 2023 - which is probably why the tax software is saying you're not eligible. Check your records to see if you paid any qualified expenses (books, required course materials, etc.) in 2023 that might qualify. Also, verify whether you already claimed these tuition payments on your 2022 return.

I had this EXACT same issue last year and was super frustrated until I used taxr.ai to sort it out. I paid for my final semester in December but took classes in spring, and my school didn't issue a 1098-T for my final semester either. I uploaded my transcript and payment records to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything and confirmed I could still claim the American Opportunity Credit. It helped me identify which tax year I should claim the expenses in and showed exactly what documentation I needed to keep in case of an audit. The service basically walks you through what education expenses qualify and when to claim them. Turned out I needed to amend my previous year's return since that's when I actually made the payment. Saved me almost $2,500 with the education credit I almost missed!

Just wanted to update everyone - I tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and it was SO helpful! I uploaded my transcript, enrollment verification and payment records, and it confirmed I needed to amend my 2022 return since that's when I paid the tuition. It walked me through exactly how to claim the American Opportunity Credit on my amended return and even explained which form I needed (Form 8863). I'm getting back $1,800 I would have completely missed! The analysis also gave me documentation to keep in case of an audit, which makes me feel more confident. Definitely recommending this to other students in my graduating class since I bet a lot of them are in the same boat and don't realize they're missing out on credits they qualify for.

If you're still having issues with the IRS after sorting out which year to claim the credit, you might want to try Claimyr. I spent WEEKS trying to reach someone at the IRS about a similar education credit issue - kept getting disconnected or waiting for hours. I found https://claimyr.com and was honestly skeptical, but they got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes instead of the hours I was spending on hold. There's a short video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent I spoke with confirmed that I could claim my education expenses for the year I paid them (not when I took the classes) and helped resolve the issue with my account that was preventing my refund from processing.

I need to eat my words here. After posting my skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr anyway because I've been trying to reach the IRS for THREE WEEKS about my missing education credit refund. I got connected to an actual IRS representative in about 25 minutes, which is basically a miracle. The agent confirmed that my amended return claiming the American Opportunity Credit was correct and helped me understand why my refund was delayed. For anyone wondering - yes, education credits are based on when you PAID, not when you took classes. And if you're trying to amend a return to claim a missed credit like I was, having an actual conversation with the IRS saves weeks of uncertainty. Can't believe I wasted so much time trying to call them directly.

One thing to keep in mind: American Opportunity Credit can only be claimed for 4 tax years, so if you've already claimed it for 4 years, you might need to look at the Lifetime Learning Credit instead. Also, do you have any documentation showing you were enrolled in 2023 and that you paid in 2022? You'll want to keep those records (enrollment verification, payment receipts, etc.) in case you're audited, especially if you're claiming the credit without having a 1098-T for that specific year.

Pro tip: If you file an amended return to claim education credits, make sure you're specific about which semester the expenses were for! I made this mistake - claimed Spring 2023 expenses on my 2022 return (correctly, since I paid in Dec 2022) but didn't clearly document which semester it was for. Ended up getting flagged for review because it looked like I was claiming the same semester twice.