1098T Question

[neguy11]

I just found that the school I attended in 2008 was in a county that was declared a Midwestern disaster area. As a result, the school can include room and board or estimated living expenses as part of my qualified expenses. Due to this my qualified education expenses are 3 times as much as I was expecting them to be and I am eligible for a Lifetime Learning Credit of 40% of these costs.

I have tried to figure the numbers myself, but with all the fees they charge us (rec center, health center, library, technology, etc.) I really can't figure out what is qualified or not. I also lived off campus and can't find out where the "budgeted" room and board costs for 2007-2008 are on their website (they only list 2008-2009 school year).

Should I trust the numbers on the 1098T are correct? I attended a very large public university.

I sure hope they are -- this is a welcome suprise and will help me out tremendously!

[MonkeyMama]

That's great news!

In general, I would never trust a 1099. They are notoriously wrong. Doesn't matter the size (or reputation) of the institution.

So yeah, I welcome this as a chance to remind everyone to double check their 1099s and make sure they understand them. Particularly when it comes to unusual circumstances like this. This is where mistakes are made.

On one hand. On the other hand, I am not sure how feasible it is to check their calculations either. In a case like this I am not sure how much the responsibility falls on your shoulders if they report it wrong.

Not very helpful, huh?

[neguy11]

Well you are right that I should take a closer look. I think I'm gonna have to sit down and calculate this out myself and figure out where they are getting their numbers! There is no way my qualified expenses should be so high, even when I add in the room and board budgeted allowance.