Can my parent use my 1098-T form without claiming me as a dependent on taxes?

The 1098-T form reports qualified education expenses paid to an eligible educational institution. It's primarily used for education tax benefits, and generally, the person who claims the student as a dependent is the one who can claim education tax benefits. Since you're claiming yourself as independent, you would be the one eligible to claim any education tax credits (like the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit) based on your 1098-T. Your mother cannot claim these education tax benefits if she's not claiming you as a dependent. As for FAFSA, that's a separate process from taxes. While FAFSA does use tax information to determine financial aid eligibility, your mother doesn't need your 1098-T form for FAFSA purposes. FAFSA requires tax return information, not the specific 1098-T form. The explanation about "keeping your scholarships" doesn't make sense from a tax perspective. Scholarships are typically reported directly to the school and the IRS, not managed through a parent's tax return.

After struggling with a similar situation with my son's college expenses last year, I found an amazing tool that helped clear everything up. I was completely confused about who could claim education credits when my son started filing independently. I used https://taxr.ai to analyze all our documents including his 1098-T form. Their system immediately identified that since my son claimed himself as independent, I couldn't use his 1098-T for education credits on my return. The tool flagged this as a potential audit risk and explained exactly what would happen if I tried to claim education expenses for a non-dependent. It saved me from making a serious mistake! Their document analyzer pulls out all the important details from tax forms and explains how they apply to your specific situation. It was so much clearer than the generic advice I found online.

I have to admit I was really skeptical about using https://taxr.ai, but after that situation with my ex and our complicated 529/dependent claiming situation, I decided to try it. What surprised me was how quickly it identified the issue with our education credits. The system flagged that my ex and I were both trying to claim education benefits for the same child based on different portions of expenses. It showed exactly how to properly allocate the 1098-T amounts between our returns since we share custody but I have the 529 plan. Saved us both from potential audits and probably thousands in penalties! It even has a feature where it can review prior year returns to find missed education credits, which was huge since we'd been handling this wrong for two years. Just wanted to update since it actually did help with my specific situation.

If you're having trouble getting straight answers from the IRS about this 1098-T situation, you're not alone! I spent WEEKS trying to get through to an IRS agent to clarify who could claim my daughter's education expenses after she started filing independently. I finally used https://claimyr.com and got connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The agent confirmed that the parent cannot use the student's 1098-T to claim education credits if they're not claiming the student as a dependent - period. The IRS agent also explained that my daughter needed to file Form 8863 with her return to claim her own education credits since she was filing independently. This clarification saved us from making a costly mistake!

I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it anyway because I was desperate to resolve an issue with my daughter's college credits and the IRS kept disconnecting me after 2+ hours on hold. The service actually worked exactly as advertised. I got a call back in about 20 minutes with an actual IRS agent on the line. The agent confirmed that my daughter needs to claim her own education credits using her 1098-T since she files independently, and I can't use her form on my return even though I help with expenses. The agent also explained that my daughter should keep documentation showing she paid qualified expenses if she's claiming those credits herself. This cleared up months of confusion for us!

Something important no one has mentioned yet - your mom might be confused about Parent PLUS loans vs. actual tuition payment! My mom thought she could claim my education credits because she had taken out Parent PLUS loans for my schooling, but that's not how it works. If your mom has Parent PLUS loans in her name, she CAN deduct the interest payments on those loans on her tax return (up to $2,500) without claiming you as a dependent - but she CANNOT claim education credits from your 1098-T. Those are completely different things. The FAFSA comment makes me think she's mixing up these concepts. For FAFSA purposes, her tax information might be relevant depending on your dependency status, but that has nothing to do with who claims education credits.

Watch out for potential fraud here! My ex tried to claim our daughter's education credits without claiming her as a dependent and it triggered an IRS audit for BOTH of them. The IRS specifically looks for mismatches between 1098-T forms and dependent claims. Your mom might not understand tax law, but ignorance isn't an excuse to the IRS. If she uses your 1098-T without claiming you, and you claim yourself AND use the same 1098-T for education credits, it will create a red flag. Best approach: file your taxes first, claiming yourself and any education credits you're entitled to. Once your return is accepted, it'll block her from claiming the same benefits.

Your mom definitely cannot use your 1098-T form for education tax credits if she's not claiming you as a dependent. The IRS is very clear on this - only the person who claims the student as a dependent can claim education credits like the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit. The "reimbursement" and "keeping scholarships" explanations don't make sense from a tax perspective. Scholarships are managed between you and your school, not through anyone's tax return. If she's talking about FAFSA, that's a completely separate financial aid process that doesn't require your 1098-T form. Here's what I'd recommend: File your taxes ASAP claiming yourself as independent and use your 1098-T to claim any education credits you're eligible for (like the American Opportunity Credit if you qualify). Once your return is processed, it will prevent anyone else from claiming those same benefits. Make sure you keep all documentation showing you paid qualified education expenses if you're claiming credits. And don't give her your 1098-T - there's no legitimate tax reason she needs it if she's not claiming you as a dependent.

I'm a tax professional and want to add some clarity about the specific situation you described with the 2021 income reporting. It sounds like your mom might be confusing several different tax concepts here. The mention of reporting your income as "below $6,700" in 2021 suggests she may have been trying to ensure you qualified as her dependent under the gross income test (which was $4,300 for 2021, actually). However, if you're now 22, living independently, and paying your own expenses, you likely don't meet the dependency tests regardless of income. The "keeping scholarships" comment is particularly concerning because it suggests a fundamental misunderstanding of how scholarships work. Scholarships are awarded and maintained based on academic performance, enrollment status, and the specific terms set by the scholarship provider - not by who claims what on their tax return. What your mom might actually be thinking about is maximizing education benefits across both your returns, but she's going about it the wrong way. If she has legitimate education-related expenses (like Parent PLUS loan interest), she can claim those deductions without needing your 1098-T. But the education credits associated with your 1098-T can only be claimed by whoever claims you as a dependent - which in this case would be you. My advice: Have a direct conversation with her about what specific tax benefit she thinks she's missing out on, then you can address the actual issue rather than this confusing 1098-T request.