Solved

Does tuition billed last year for this year's education count for this year?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
May 31, 2019
1 reply
0 views

I didn't do my own taxes last year so I don't know how this was handled at the time, but my spring semester 2014 tuition was billed in December 2013 and was therefore recorded on my 2013 1098-T with box 7 checked. I graduated in the spring of 2014 so that was the last semester I was billed for. I was expecting to get a deduction for going to school and paying tuition this year but my 2014 1098-T has nothing in boxes 1 and 2. I guess I understand this - the bill was recorded on my 2013 1098-T.

When I leave boxes 1 and 2 blank on my 2014 1098-T, TurboTax asks me if I got a 1098-T last year and asks if I paid tuition last year and asks if box 7 is checked, and I answer "yes" to all of those, but I still don't get any deduction. Do I just not get anything because the bill came a few weeks before the new year or is the software missing something?

TurboTax Deluxe Online

Best answer by Hal_Al

It doesn't matter when the the tuition was billed or what the 1098-T says. What matters is when was the tuition was actually PAID. If the spring 2014 tuition was paid in 2013, it was deductible (or counted toward the ed credit) in 2013.

If it wasn't paid until 2014, it gets reported on your 2014 tax return. That's one of the purposes of a December billing, to give the taxpayer the option of paying in 2013 or 2014.

Hal_AlAnswer

It doesn't matter when the the tuition was billed or what the 1098-T says. What matters is when was the tuition was actually PAID. If the spring 2014 tuition was paid in 2013, it was deductible (or counted toward the ed credit) in 2013.

If it wasn't paid until 2014, it gets reported on your 2014 tax return. That's one of the purposes of a December billing, to give the taxpayer the option of paying in 2013 or 2014.