If I was charged Spring 2022 tuition in Dec 2021 but paid in Jan 2022, should it be on my 2022 1098-T?

I'm so confused about my 2022 1098-T and it's really messing up my expected tax refund because I'm not getting any education credits. Looking at the form, my Box 1 (payments received for tuition/related expenses) is roughly 25% lower than my Box 5 (scholarships/grants). It looks like all my tuition charges got reported on my 2020 and 2021 tax forms, but I never realized the timing of when I was billed vs when I actually paid would matter until now. My school billed me for Spring 2022 semester back in December 2021, but I didn't actually pay it until January 2022 before the payment deadline. I graduated in Spring 2022, so I don't have any tuition expenses for Fall 2022. Now I'm wondering if I need to go back and amend my previous tax returns, or if I just got screwed out of education credits this year? Has anyone dealt with this before? The whole 1098-T reporting thing is so confusing!

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18 comments

Zoe Walker

•8M

This is actually a common issue with the 1098-T form. Schools have the option to report either amounts paid (Box 1) or amounts billed (Box 2) during the calendar year. Most schools have switched to the "amounts paid" method in recent years. What's happening in your case is that your Spring 2022 tuition was billed in December 2021, but you paid it in January 2022. If your school reports based on when payments were received (Box 1 method), then that Spring 2022 payment should appear on your 2022 1098-T. However, if they previously used the "amounts billed" method for your 2021 form, they may have already included this tuition on your 2021 1098-T in Box 2. Look at your 2021 1098-T to see if Box 2 was filled out. If it was, and the amount includes your Spring 2022 tuition, then you would have claimed that expense on your 2021 taxes. You shouldn't need to amend unless you failed to claim the credit for that year.

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Zoe Walker

•8M

Schools generally do maintain consistency in their reporting method, but they can change methods with IRS approval. They should notify students if they make such a change. Regarding scholarships, they should be reported for the same tax year as the corresponding tuition. However, timing discrepancies can occur, especially if scholarships were applied at different times than when tuition was billed or paid. I'd suggest checking both your 2021 and 2022 1098-T forms side by side, along with your actual payment records and scholarship disbursement dates. This will help determine if there's a legitimate reporting issue or if the credits were properly allocated to your 2021 tax year.

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Maria Gonzalez

•8M

I went through the EXACT same headache last year with my 1098-T and found taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) super helpful for figuring it out. I uploaded my 1098-T forms from both years and my transcript/billing statement and it analyzed everything together. The system caught that my school had reported my Spring semester tuition on the previous year's form because they were using the "amounts billed" method. It also walked me through how to properly claim my education credits based on when I actually paid vs. when I was billed. Saved me from potentially filing incorrectly or missing out on credits.

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Maria Gonzalez

•8M

It's surprisingly good with education credits - that's actually what it seems designed for. It analyzes the payment dates against the billing dates and helps determine which tax year you should claim the expenses in. For your payment plan situation, yes it handles that too. I had a friend who made payments across December/January and it helped sort out which payments belonged to which tax year. Regarding amendments, it analyzed both my current and previous year forms together and clearly showed I didn't need to amend because my school had consistently used the "amounts billed" method. It also handled my scholarship timing by comparing the disbursement dates against the tuition charges to ensure everything was properly allocated.

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Santiago Martinez

•8M

Just wanted to follow up - I ended up trying taxr.ai and it was actually really helpful! I uploaded my 1098-Ts from both years plus my student account statements, and it immediately identified that my school switched reporting methods (they apparently did notify us via some buried email I missed). The tool confirmed I needed to claim certain expenses on 2021 vs 2022 based on the actual payment dates rather than just going by what was on each year's 1098-T. It saved me from having to amend my return and showed exactly which education credits I was eligible for in each year. Way better than the generic advice I was getting elsewhere!

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Samantha Johnson

•8M

After dealing with IRS confusion over education credits for years (seriously, it's like their most complex area), I finally discovered Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) when I needed to talk directly to an IRS agent about my 1098-T issue. Their service got me through to an actual IRS person in about 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. The IRS agent confirmed that for education credits, what matters is when you PAID the qualified expenses, not when you were billed. They walked me through how to reconcile the differences between my 1098-T and actual payment records. You can see how their service works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was honestly surprised how helpful the IRS agent was once I actually got through to them. Totally worth it for clearing up my education credit confusion.

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Samantha Johnson

•8M

They use technology that monitors the IRS phone system and navigates the various prompts automatically until there's an opening, then it calls you to connect. It's not just repeatedly calling - they have some kind of system that holds your place in line without you having to stay on the phone. It's not magic, just smart tech. Their system keeps trying different pathways through the phone tree until it finds availability. When I used it, I got a call back in about 20 minutes saying they had an IRS representative on the line, which was way better than the hours I spent trying on my own with no success.

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Hannah White

•8M

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I ended up using Claimyr after posting my skeptical comment. I was desperate after getting disconnected for the 15th time trying to clarify my 1098-T situation. It actually worked! Got a call back in about 45 minutes with an IRS education credit specialist on the line. She explained that my university had switched reporting methods (just like someone suggested above) and confirmed I needed to use my actual payment dates to determine which tax year to claim the expenses in. She even gave me specific instructions on how to document everything in case of an audit. Was exactly what I needed to fix my return and claim the proper education credits. Sometimes being proven wrong is a good thing!

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Michael Green

•8M

One thing nobody has mentioned is to check for any adjustments made to your student account. I had a similar situation where my Box 1 was lower than expected because there were some retroactive adjustments to my account. Look at your student account statement online and compare the actual transactions to what's reported on the 1098-T. Sometimes schools make accounting adjustments that affect how things are reported, even if your actual payments and scholarships remained the same.

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Michael Green

•8M

I'd recommend keeping all student account statements for at least 3-4 years, which aligns with the general IRS record-keeping recommendations for tax documents. This gives you enough time to address any issues that might come up with education credits or if you're audited. For accessing past statements, most schools keep these records accessible in your student portal for several years after graduation. If you can't find them online, contact your school's bursar office - they can usually provide account histories going back many years.

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