The IRS has granted educational institutions a one-year reprieve from penalties if they fail to provide information on the amounts actually paid to the institution for the year in question on Form 1098-T and rather provide information solely on the amounts billed to the student. Announcement 2016-17 provides this short term relief from the law change enacted as part of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015.
As part of a package of provisions meant to reign in unauthorized claims for the American Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit, the Congress removed the option for educational institutions to report the amounts billed for tuition to a student on Form 1098-T in lieu of reporting the amounts actually paid by the student during the year. The credits in question are only available for amounts actually paid during the year in question, though not surprisingly many taxpayers simply used the amount on that form to claim the credit, even if the actual payment was made in a different year.
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