education expense deduction

[Unregistered]

Are Expenses For Education Not Reported On A 1098t Eligible For The Education Expense Deduction? In Reading The Pubs Expense For Tuition And Fees Should Be Deductible But The Pubs Also Say That Qualified Institutions Should Issue A 1098t For Eligible Expenses. Any Thoughts Or Experiences?
Ggann

[Bill Tubbs]

Init Caps On Every Word

The 1098-T are a starting point. If client has evidence that the tuition & eligible fees is either more or less than the 1098-T they received, I use the client's figures.

If client didn't get a 1098-T, maybe:
1) it got lost in the mail,
2) client didn't see it as a tax paper so didn't pass it to his preparer,
3) the institution is not a qualified institution.

Bill

[GGANN]

education expense deduction

would you take the deduction as an adjustment if the school is a qualified institution and they are not issuing a 1098t for courses that were taken by a student?

[Brian EA]

would you take the deduction as an adjustment if the school is a qualified institution and they are not issuing a 1098t for courses that were taken by a student?

It depends. If the income is within limitations I would go for the Hope or Lifetime credit.

Hope credit gives you the best result if you are under the 25% tax rate. eg

First $1000 = $1000
second $1000 = $ 500
total = $ 1500.
Lifetime is 20% to $10000 which is a max of $2000. In this case I will take the Lifetime

The max on the adj is $4000. At 25% it is only $1000.
If you exceed the limitation foe the hope and lifetime then go for the adjustment

[Matt Sova]

Software

Or you can have quality software that will calculate the best situation.