Can someone claim tuition payments without a 1098-T?

[jeanmarc]

This is a complicated scenario I’m trying to help a client friend with. My client (we’ll call her “Jill”) and her ex (we’ll call him “Jack”) both helped pay for their 21-year-old daughter’s college tuition in 2024. To do this, Jack sent monthly amounts totaling $12,000 in the year to their daughter’s bank account, but Jill made the actual tuition payments from her own checking account because Jack often sent the money late, and payments were due monthly. Jill would then transfer the money from her daughter’s bank account to her own.

Jack is now asking Jill for a receipt showing the $12,000 he contributed. Jack says he already filed his taxes and claimed this amount on his tax return and needs proof. However, Jack never received a copy of their daughter’s 1098-T form.

Could Jack have claimed the $12,000 he paid in tuition without the 1098-T?

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

who claimed the child/student on the tax return? 

If Jack claimed the tuition, then he also claimed the child/student.

If he used DIY software he could have filled out a 1098T info even if he didnt have it.

[dascpa]

Too many decades ago the only question I failed on my driver's test was "can you drive without a license". I answered no and got it wrong. Of course you can drive. Should you drive is a different question. Then both of my kids got the same question on their test and because of me, they got it right.

To your point about can you - not to your specific question about which parent or who paid - many colleges bill in December for the spring semester. Many times in the last semester before graduation we don't have a 1098-T but we do have a 1099-Q for it, or we do have other expenses. So there are times we need to fill in Part IV of the Student Information Worksheet manually.