[junar]

1098-T forms are notoriously unreliable. Schools will often misclassify or omit scholarships and payments. And you might have additional educational expenses like books that aren't listed in the first place. It doesn't excuse your experience, though; that tax preparer should have made a better effort to understand the figures.

Out of curiosity, was the tax preparer actually a licensed CPA, or just someone with no professional credentials? If they were a CPA, did they prepare individual tax returns regularly or only as a side job?

[UncleMeat]

> 1098-T forms are notoriously unreliable. Schools will often misclassify or omit scholarships and payments. And you might have additional educational expenses like books that aren't listed in the first place.

Worse, virtually all of the 1098-T guidance exists for undergrads. The problems with the form are entirely different for graduate students and basically nobody can help.

> Out of curiosity, was the tax preparer actually a licensed CPA, or just someone with no professional credentials? If they were a CPA, did they prepare individual tax returns regularly or only as a side job?

It's been a bunch of years so I don't know for certain, but they weren't just a desk worker at H&R Block. Tax preparation was their primary job.

[eropple]

In my experience, somebody who has tax preparation as a primary job is often not a CPA. A CPA usually offers a suite of services, and is also usually a lot more useful.

My CPA is great, and I save money through using his services.

[UncleMeat]

"Primary job" as in "not a side gig."

[eropple]

Gotcha. Still worth noting that going to somebody whose sign says "tax preparer" often isn't the same thing as "accountant", and one conflates at their peril!