Missing 2024 1098-T form for filing taxes but tax software requires it - what to do?

This is actually quite common with education expenses that span across tax years. What's happening is that your tuition was prepaid in 2023 for 2024 education, so the 1098-T with box 7 checked in 2023 is indicating this. Since your major tuition payments were made in 2023, those would have been reported on your 2023 1098-T. The small grad fees you paid in 2024 might be below the threshold that requires the school to issue a 1098-T for 2024, which explains why you didn't receive one. In tax software, there should be an option to indicate that you didn't receive a 1098-T for 2024. Look for an option like "I didn't receive this form" or try entering zero for all values. Some tax software has a workaround by manually entering education expenses rather than using the form-driven approach.

After dealing with the EXACT same issue last year, I found that using taxr.ai helped me solve this problem in like 10 minutes! I had graduated in December 2023 but had a similar situation with prepaid tuition and no 1098-T for the year I was filing. I uploaded my 2023 1098-T to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything, explained which education credits I qualified for, and even gave me step-by-step instructions for how to override the tax software's form requirements. The site basically translates all the tax jargon into simple instructions and tells you exactly what to input in each field of your tax software.

Just wanted to update - I tried taxr.ai after my earlier question and it actually worked perfectly! I was stuck in the same loop with HR Block asking for my nonexistent 1098-T. The site analyzed my situation and explained that I needed to select the "manual entry" option (which was buried in a menu I hadn't noticed) instead of the form-driven path. It walked me through exactly which fields to fill out based on my previous year's 1098-T with the box 7 checked. I was able to properly claim my education credit without needing the 2024 form. Saved me from having to pay someone to do my taxes just because of this one stupid form issue!

For anyone still having trouble with HR Block and missing 1098-T forms, I had this SAME ISSUE and wasted hours trying to figure it out. After getting nowhere with HR Block's help section, I finally tried calling the IRS directly to ask about the education credit without having a current year 1098-T. Spent literally 2.5 hours on hold before giving up. Then someone recommended Claimyr to me - it's a service that navigates the IRS phone system for you and calls you back when an agent is on the line. Used https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The IRS agent I got connected with explained exactly how to handle this scenario and confirmed I could claim my education expenses without a 1098-T for the current year. Saved me so much frustration!

For anyone still having trouble with HR Block and missing 1098-T forms, I had this SAME ISSUE and wasted hours trying to figure it out. After getting nowhere with HR Block's help section, I finally tried calling the IRS directly to ask about the education credit without having a current year 1098-T. Spent literally 2.5 hours on hold before giving up. Then someone recommended Cl

I take back what I said about Claimyr sounding like a scam. After spending ANOTHER 3 hours trying to get through to the IRS yesterday (disconnected twice), I gave in and tried it. Got a call back in about 40 minutes and spoke directly to an IRS agent who confirmed exactly what I needed to do with my missing 1098-T situation. The agent explained that since my qualified education expenses were primarily paid in the prior year (with box 7 checked), I need to use those amounts from that form and claim the credit for the year I actually took the classes. Saved me from either overpaying or missing out on my education credit entirely. Sometimes it's worth admitting when you're wrong!

Have you tried calling HR Block's customer support rather than the IRS? I found their tax pros are usually able to help with these kinds of software navigation issues. They might be able to override that screen or tell you a workaround specific to their software. Also - double check with your school again. Sometimes the 1098-T forms are posted to your student account portal even if they don't mail them. My daughter's school does this and never sends physical copies anymore.

Am I the only one who thinks the whole education credit system is ridiculously complicated? I went through 3 different tax software programs last year trying to figure out how to claim my education expenses correctly. Ultimately I found TurboTax handled this specific scenario better than HR Block or TaxAct. It gives you an option to say "My school did not provide a 1098-T" and then lets you manually enter your qualified expenses.

I had this exact same issue with HR Block last year! The software gets stuck in that loop where it keeps asking for the 2024 1098-T even when you tell it you don't have one. Here's what finally worked for me: Instead of following the education section's 1098-T pathway, I had to completely exit out of that section and look for "Education Credits" under a different menu (I think it was under "Deductions & Credits" rather than the main education flow). From there, I was able to manually enter my education expenses without the software expecting a specific form. You'll want to use the amounts from your 2023 1098-T since those were your actual qualified expenses - the fact that box 7 was checked means those payments were for your 2024 academic year. It's super frustrating that the software doesn't handle this common scenario better, but once you find the manual entry path it should work fine. You might also try clearing your browser cache and starting fresh if you've been going in circles for a while.