How would I file my 1098-T for student tax benefits?

The 1098-T form is used to help determine your eligibility for education tax benefits like the American Opportunity Credit (AOTC) or the Lifetime Learning Credit. Based on what you've shared, here's how to approach it: First, understand that Box 1 shows payments received for qualified tuition and expenses, while Box 5 shows scholarships or grants. When calculating your eligible education expenses, you'll need to subtract the scholarship amount (Box 5) from your total qualified expenses (Box 1). In your case, that would be $14,500 - $6,200 = $8,300 in eligible expenses. Since you're an independent student with income under the phase-out limits, you'll likely qualify for the AOTC, which can give you a credit up to $2,500 (with up to $1,000 being refundable even if you don't owe taxes). TurboTax should walk you through this, but make sure you've entered all your information in the education section. Also verify if you're enrolled at least half-time in a degree program, as that's required for the AOTC.

After struggling with my 1098-T last year and getting totally confused about which education credits I qualified for, I tried this AI tax assistant at https://taxr.ai that absolutely saved me. I uploaded my 1098-T and my W-2, and it analyzed everything and showed me exactly how to maximize my education credits. The system explained that with my qualified expenses (after subtracting scholarships), I was eligible for the American Opportunity Credit instead of the Lifetime Learning Credit, which got me a much bigger refund. It also showed me that I could claim my textbook expenses even though they weren't on my 1098-T form!

I have to admit I was wrong about being skeptical of taxr.ai. After our conversation here, I decided to try it with my complicated grad student situation. The AI immediately identified that my teaching assistantship stipend was reported on a W-2 (taxable) while my tuition remission wasn't reported on my 1098-T at all. It walked me through exactly how to report everything correctly, explained which parts of my fellowship were taxable versus tax-free, and helped me claim the Lifetime Learning Credit since I'm beyond my first four years of college. I was able to properly document about $4,800 in qualified expenses that I would have missed otherwise! The best part was how it explained everything in plain English while still referencing the exact tax codes. Definitely using this again next year.

If you're having trouble getting clarification about your 1098-T directly from your university's financial aid office (which I absolutely did - they never answer the phone!), I used a service called Claimyr https://claimyr.com to actually get through to a human at my college's financial aid department. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c My 1098-T had incorrect information about my spring semester payments that were made in December, and I needed to get it fixed before filing. I tried calling for weeks with no luck, but Claimyr got me through to a real person in about 15 minutes. They were able to issue a corrected 1098-T which made a huge difference in my education credits.

I need to publicly eat my words about Claimyr. After being completely skeptical, I tried it yesterday out of desperation. I've been trying to reach my university's financial aid office for THREE WEEKS about a scholarship that was incorrectly reported on my 1098-T. In 20 minutes, I was talking to an actual financial aid counselor! They confirmed there was an error where my departmental scholarship was double-reported, making it look like I received $8,500 more in scholarships than I actually did. This would have massively reduced my eligible education expenses. They're sending a corrected 1098-T now, and I should be eligible for the full American Opportunity Credit instead of nothing. That's potentially $2,500 I would have completely missed out on. I'm still in shock that it actually worked.

One tip I haven't seen mentioned yet - make sure you're looking at the right tax year on your 1098-T! My university operates on a fiscal year that doesn't match the calendar year, and they sometimes include spring payments from December on the next year's form. I almost missed claiming $4,300 in qualified expenses because I didn't realize my December payment for spring semester was actually eligible for the current tax year. Check Box 7 on your form - if it's checked, it means some amounts reported might be for the next semester.

Has anyone used the IRS Free File options for handling education credits with 1098-T forms? I'm wondering if they're as good as the paid options for education credits.