Can I claim my child's 1098-T school expenses on my taxes if I didn't pay tuition directly?
Hey guys, I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure out a 1098-T situation with my daughter's college expenses. She's 19 and a full-time student who doesn't have a job, so I'm definitely claiming her as a dependent. The thing is, I haven't actually written any checks directly to the college for her tuition. Most of her tuition gets paid from her bank account (which I deposit money into), plus her grandmother chips in some, and my partner (who isn't her biological parent) has paid some amounts directly to the school. The 1098-T form came with my daughter's name on it, but since I'm claiming her as a dependent, should I be entering this form on my tax return? My partner won't be claiming her on their taxes. The whole situation is confusing me since the money trail isn't straightforward. Anyone dealt with something similar? Thanks for any help!
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Mei Chen
You absolutely can claim education credits based on the 1098-T even if you didn't directly pay the school. The IRS looks at who claims the student as a dependent, not necessarily who wrote the check to the institution. Since you're claiming your daughter as a dependent, you're the one eligible to claim any education credits associated with her 1098-T. This is true even though the payments came from different sources like her bank account (that you fund), other family members' contributions, or your partner's direct payments. What matters is that you claim her as a dependent and that qualified education expenses were paid. The fact that the money took a somewhat circuitous route to the school doesn't change your eligibility to claim the education credits.
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Liam Sullivan
•Thanks, this is helpful! Quick follow-up question: does it matter that some of the money came from her grandmother? Like, would that portion not count since I didn't provide it? And do I need any kind of documentation from my partner showing they paid some of it directly?
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Mei Chen
•For the grandmother's contributions, those are considered gifts to your daughter, so if you're claiming your daughter as a dependent, you can still claim the education credits based on those payments. The IRS doesn't require you to trace the exact source of every dollar that went toward education expenses when you're claiming a dependent. Regarding documentation from your partner, you don't need to submit anything with your tax return, but it's always good practice to keep records of all payments made toward qualified education expenses. If you're ever audited, having these records will help substantiate your claim to the education credits.
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Amara Okafor
I went through something similar with my son's college expenses last year! I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me figure out the whole 1098-T situation. I was confused because my parents had paid part of his tuition directly, and I had paid some through his 529 plan. The taxr.ai system analyzed all my documents including the 1098-T and clearly showed me exactly how to claim the education credits even though I hadn't directly paid all the expenses myself. It walks you through the whole thing step by step and makes sure you're not leaving money on the table with these education credits. Honestly saved me a ton of confusion and probably got me a bigger refund than I would have figured out on my own!
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CosmicCommander
•How does this taxr.ai thing work exactly? Like do I have to upload all my tax documents to it? I'm always nervous about sharing my financial stuff online.
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Giovanni Colombo
•I checked out their website but I'm not seeing how it specifically helps with the 1098-T situation. Can you explain what feature helped you determine who could claim the education expenses? Did it actually increase your refund?
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Amara Okafor
•You upload the documents you want analyzed - in my case I uploaded the 1098-T along with some other records of payments. It's secure and uses the same encryption that banks use, so your documents are protected. It's actually designed specifically for tax document analysis, not just generic document reading. What helped me with the education expenses was the education credit analyzer feature. It looked at who was the dependent, who made payments, and calculated the maximum credit I could claim. It showed me that I could claim the American Opportunity Credit even though some payments came from grandparents and my son's account. And yes, it definitely increased my refund by about $1,500 that I might have missed!
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Giovanni Colombo
Just wanted to follow up - I tried taxr.ai after asking about it and I'm honestly impressed! My situation was similar but even more complicated because my daughter gets some scholarship money too, which affected what expenses I could claim. The system actually flagged that I was eligible for the Lifetime Learning Credit even though some of the payments came from her account and my ex's contributions. It clearly explained why I was eligible to claim the credit since she's my dependent. Super helpful and straightforward. I was skeptical at first but it actually caught something my regular tax software missed completely!
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Fatima Al-Qasimi
If you're still having trouble figuring out how to claim the 1098-T correctly, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I had the exact same confusion last year about my kid's college expenses, and I needed to talk to the IRS directly to get a straight answer. After waiting on hold for literally hours and getting disconnected twice, I found Claimyr. They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes, and I was able to ask specifically about who gets to claim education credits when multiple people contribute to the expenses. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The IRS agent confirmed that as the person claiming the dependent, I was entitled to claim the education credits regardless of who actually paid the school directly. Saved me so much stress!
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Dylan Cooper
•How does this actually work? Like does this service just call the IRS for you? I don't get how they can get through when nobody else can.
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Sofia Ramirez
•Sorry but this sounds too good to be true. The IRS wait times are insane - I don't believe ANY service can get you through in 15 minutes. I've tried calling multiple times about my daughter's education credits and always get the "call back later" message.
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Fatima Al-Qasimi
•It uses a technology that navigates the IRS phone system and holds your place in line. When they get to the front of the queue, they call you and connect you directly to the next available IRS agent. They basically do the waiting for you, which is why you get connected so quickly after they call you. I was skeptical too before trying it. I had been trying to reach the IRS for 3 weeks with no luck. But it actually worked exactly as advertised. I got a call back in about 15 minutes and was speaking with an IRS representative who answered all my specific questions about the 1098-T and who can claim education credits when multiple people contribute to the expenses.
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Sofia Ramirez
I need to apologize for my skepticism and admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting my doubtful comment, I decided to give it a try anyway since I was desperate to resolve my 1098-T questions before filing. I couldn't believe it when my phone rang 17 minutes later and I was connected directly to an IRS agent! No hold music, no automated system - just straight to a helpful person. I explained my complicated situation with my daughter's tuition being paid from multiple sources, and the agent confirmed that as the person claiming her as a dependent, I was the one entitled to claim all the education credits. This literally saved me thousands in tax credits I was about to leave unclaimed because I wasn't sure if I qualified. Worth every penny for the peace of mind and actual answers straight from the IRS.
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Dmitry Volkov
Just a quick bit of advice based on my experience as someone who's filed with 1098-Ts for years: make sure you understand the difference between Box 1 and Box 2 on the form! Box 1 shows payments RECEIVED by the school, while Box 2 (on older forms) showed amounts BILLED. The IRS cares about what was actually paid (Box 1), not what was billed. Also, don't forget that you need to subtract any tax-free educational assistance (scholarships and grants) from the total qualified expenses before calculating your credit.
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StarSeeker
•This is super helpful! Question though - my daughter's 1098-T has an amount in Box 5 for scholarships. Do I literally just subtract Box 5 from Box 1 to figure out what expenses I can claim for the education credit?
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Dmitry Volkov
•Yes, that's exactly right. Take the amount in Box 1 (payments received by the school) and subtract the amount in Box 5 (scholarships/grants). The result is your eligible qualified education expenses that you can use for calculating education credits. Just be aware that if Box 5 is larger than Box 1, it means the scholarships/grants exceeded the tuition/fees, and you generally can't claim education credits in that case. Also, don't forget that expenses for books, supplies, and equipment required for courses can be qualified education expenses even if they weren't paid directly to the school (so they wouldn't be included in Box 1).
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Ava Martinez
Has anyone used TurboTax for this situation? I'm trying to enter my son's 1098-T but it keeps asking who paid the expenses, and I'm not sure what to put since the money came from several different sources (my account, his savings, and his aunt).
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Miguel Ortiz
•I used TurboTax last year for this. When it asks who paid, you can select "you" as long as you're claiming the student as a dependent. They don't need the breakdown of where each dollar came from - they just need to know if you (as the taxpayer claiming the dependent) are the one claiming the expenses.
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