Wonder how the other tax professionals deal with a Form 1098-T.
I always have problem to make a judgment as to whether the payments made by the parents should be applied to "tuition and fees" first or "room and board expense" first. Of course, it would be more beneficial for the parents to apply their payments to "tuition as fee" since they can claim the education credit in that way. But do they really have the freedom to make the determination?
I always incline to apply their payment to "room and board expense" first, and then would apply the excessive amount to "tuition and fees". But then often I have clients telling me that their friends or co-workers, under similar situation, could claim the education credit because their tax preparer apply their payment to "tuition and fees" first. I am interested in knowing how the other tax professionals handle the situation.
I always have problem to make a judgment as to whether the payments made by the parents should be applied to "tuition and fees" first or "room and board expense" first. Of course, it would be more beneficial for the parents to apply their payments to "tuition as fee" since they can claim the education credit in that way. But do they really have the freedom to make the determination?
I always incline to apply their payment to "room and board expense" first, and then would apply the excessive amount to "tuition and fees". But then often I have clients telling me that their friends or co-workers, under similar situation, could claim the education credit because their tax preparer apply their payment to "tuition and fees" first. I am interested in knowing how the other tax professionals handle the situation.
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