Hi there... I'm new, so please go easy on me if I should have posted this as a follow-on to another message (looks like this topic hasn't come up in about a year). Last year, there was a discussion on here of the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC) and its application in the year the student graduates and gets a job--it touched on the question I need to ask but didn't fully answer it. My spouse's school sent him a 1098-T this year reflecting as "amounts billed" during 2008 the full amount of my spouse's Jan-May 2009 tuition. I know and they know, though, that all the loan transactions covering the Jan-May 2009 semester didn't finalize until Jan of this year.

HERE'S WHY THIS MATTERS--I'm concerned because my spouse's LLC is useless to us this year but would be quite helpful if he gets a job this year and has some income for his 2009 return. In other words, I'd like to be in a position for him to claim the amounts actually paid this year on his 2009 return. I'm worried the school will not send him a 1098-T for this year, though, as, again, the one they sent this year wrapped it all up and included the amounts paid by loans settling in the new year.

Does anyone know what we'll have to go through to rectify this next year? Can you claim the credit w/o a 1098-T if you have documentation that the loan payments cleared in the new year, regardless of what the 1098-T from the previous year says (obviously, one could not double dip and claim amounts for 2 years, but, again, we can't do a thing with it this year)?

Any help here would be so very much appreciated. I've poked around the Net but haven't found anything speaking to this question.

Any tuition and fee payment or student loan interest payment must be deducted in the year it is paid.
You can file joint return and claim the deduction or credit you are meet the requirements.

Any tuition and fee payment or student loan interest payment must be deducted in the year it is paid.
You can file joint return and claim the deduction or credit you are meet the requirements.

Thanks, but the situation I described above is a bit more complicated than that. I would love to see an answer from someone who has read the question fully and can address these specific circumstances... thanks!

Grich:

If you can show that you actually paid the 2009 tuition in 2009, then go back to the school and have them correct the Form 1098-T.

Regardless, if you have definite proof that the tuition payment was made in 2009, then claim the credit on your 2009 tax return. The IRS may challenge it, but, as Mukat pointed out, cash basis taxpayers claim expenses and credit in the year they are incurred.

It REALLY IS that simple!

Grich:

If you can show that you actually paid the 2009 tuition in 2009, then go back to the school and have them correct the Form 1098-T.

Regardless, if you have definite proof that the tuition payment was made in 2009, then claim the credit on your 2009 tax return. The IRS may challenge it, but, as Mukat pointed out, cash basis taxpayers claim expenses and credit in the year they are incurred.

It REALLY IS that simple!

Thanks, all!