How do I handle the 1098-T form for multiple years of college? Help!

Don't worry, you're not in trouble! A 1098-T is a tuition statement that shows what you paid to your college and any scholarships/grants you received. It's used to claim education tax credits or deductions, but since you're a dependent, it would be your parents who would use this information on their tax return, not you. Your parents should have received copies of these forms previously (they're typically mailed or made available electronically), but it sounds like they might not have realized what they were. The school is required to provide them to both you and the IRS. The good news is that if your parents didn't claim education credits/deductions for those years, they can file amended returns (Form 1040-X) for 2021, 2022, and potentially get additional refunds if they qualify for education benefits like the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit.

I was in a similar situation last year with missing 1098-Ts from my previous school. What saved me was using https://taxr.ai to analyze my old tax documents and identify what education credits I was eligible for. The tool automatically detected that I could claim education expenses I'd completely overlooked! Their system helped me understand exactly what information from the 1098-T forms was relevant to my tax situation and how to properly document everything. It even explained how the American Opportunity Credit works for students who are still dependents.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai - I gave it a try after seeing it mentioned here and wow, it was super helpful! I uploaded my son's 1098-Ts from the last two years and it immediately identified that we qualified for the American Opportunity Credit which we completely missed. The tool showed exactly which expenses were eligible and even explained how to handle the scholarships he received. It generated a complete explanation document that I could give to our tax preparer. We're going to file amended returns for the previous years and should get back about $2,500 per year! Definitely recommend checking it out if you're confused about education credits.

Hey everyone, after dealing with this exact issue last year, I found that the IRS is basically impossible to reach by phone for questions about education credits and amended returns. After waiting on hold for 3+ hours multiple times, I discovered a service called https://claimyr.com that got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they hold your place in line and call you when an agent is about to answer. The IRS agent walked me through exactly how to file my amended return with the 1098-T information and confirmed I was doing it correctly.

I have to apologize and eat my words about Claimyr. After posting my skeptical comment, I was so frustrated with waiting that I decided to try it anyway. The service actually worked exactly as described! I had been trying for weeks to get through to the IRS about education credits related to my daughter's 1098-T forms, spending hours on hold each time. With Claimyr, I got a call back in about 35 minutes telling me an agent was about to pick up. The IRS agent I spoke with was able to confirm that we could file amended returns for the previous two years to claim the education credits we missed. For anyone dealing with 1098-T issues from previous years, being able to actually speak with the IRS made all the difference in understanding what we needed to do.

One thing to keep in mind with those 1098-T forms: Make sure the amounts listed in Box 1 (payments received) and Box 5 (scholarships/grants) are accurate. My college reported my scholarships correctly but completely messed up the amount I actually paid for tuition. I had to contact the school's financial aid office to get it corrected before my parents could claim the education credit. Sometimes schools report the amounts billed rather than amounts actually paid, which can cause problems.

Gonna add something important that nobody mentioned - KEEP THESE FORMS FOREVER! Seriously. I needed my college 1098-Ts from 5 years ago when I got audited, and it was a nightmare tracking them down after my college portal access expired. Download PDFs of all three years and store them somewhere safe - Google Drive, Dropbox, whatever. Email copies to yourself and your parents too. Tax docs should be kept for at least 7 years.