Hey all,
So I started at a new company in 2016 but the events leading up to (and even through) that in 2015-2016 was a real PITA with my previous company. In short, I had gotten tuition assistance reimbursement in 2015 from my prior company but after I left and started at the new company, in 2016, they forced me to pay it all back since I left within a year of taking the assistance (policy is that you are obligated to recompense if you "willingly" leave, which I apparently did in lieu of them giving me a "target termination date" of mid-2016... :T - lose-lose situation for me based on how their lawyers drafted things up). Anyway, I don't recall exactly what happened when I filed for 2015 taxes but I don't think I would have declared the 'payback' anyway (since it occurred in 2016), which means that I think I should declare it this go-around right?
Are there any 'gotchas' or anything else I should be aware of here when filing? I noticed I can either take a "Tuition and Fees Deduction" or a "Education Credit" (not sure which would be better to take or if I'm only qualified to take on vs the other). It seems like when they ask for details around the education credit claim, they specifically ask about the institution I took courses from in 2016, so I'm not quite sure what to do about that in this situation since I took the course in 2015.