"Jean S. Barto" <jsbarto1[at]cox.net> wrote
- quote -

The amount you pay the school is always going to be greater
than the expenses that are "qualified" and therefore
deductible under one or more of the educational tax breaks.

You can only claim the amounts indicated on the 1098T, not
the higher of your actual expenses.

--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia
taxman at negia.net

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I've just gotten my Forms 1098-T for my college tuition
expenses last year. I'm an older *non-traditional* student
and I'm doing my own taxes--and there's no way I'm anyone's
dependent.

I've noticed that the amounts on two of the 1098-T's are
slightly less than what I actually paid for the courses I
took at two community colleges. The third 1098-T is from a
local hospital where I was enrolled the Fall of 2004 in a
Radiography program. I quit that program January 3rd and so
there won't be a charge from them for 2005.

The community college 1098-T's have detailed charges on the
back for each category--however, the 1098-T just shows a
lump sum and there's no detailed listing of charges at all.

I keep track of my expenses with Quicken and I do my taxes
with TurboTax.

So, what amounts do I use when I'm calculating my education
charges and credits? Do I use the amounts from the Forms
1098-T, or the amounts I actually paid for the courses?

Thanks in advance,

Jean in VA

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