When Should You Get Your Form 1098-T?
Your Form 1098-T is a key document for education tax credits. Learn the procedural details of its issuance and how it impacts your annual tax filing.
Form 1098-T, the Tuition Statement, is an informational document provided by colleges and universities to students. Its primary purpose is to report qualified tuition and related expenses paid during the calendar year. This information helps taxpayers determine their eligibility for education-related tax benefits, such as the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) or the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC).
Eligibility for Receiving a Form 1098-T
Eligible educational institutions, which include most accredited public and private postsecondary schools, are required by the IRS to issue a Form 1098-T to students who paid for qualified tuition and related expenses during the preceding calendar year. Qualified expenses generally include tuition and fees required for enrollment or attendance. They do not include costs for room and board, insurance, medical fees, or transportation. Even if a parent or another third party pays the tuition on behalf of the student, the form is issued in the student’s name.
There are specific circumstances under which a student might not receive a Form 1098-T. Institutions are not required to send a form if the student’s qualified tuition and expenses were entirely paid for with scholarships or grants, resulting in a net of zero. Students taking courses for which no academic credit is offered are also typically excluded.
Timeline and Delivery of Your Form 1098-T
Schools are required to furnish the form, either by mail or electronically, no later than January 31st of the year following the tax year being reported. For example, the 1098-T for the 2024 tax year must be sent to students by January 31, 2025.
Institutions deliver the form in one of two ways: through physical mail to the student’s permanent address on file or via electronic delivery. Most schools now offer an electronic option through a secure online student portal, which often requires the student to provide consent to receive their tax documents digitally. It is a common practice for students to access their forms through their school’s bursar or student finance website. Checking these online portals is often the fastest way to retrieve the document.
Understanding the Information on Your Form 1098-T
When you receive your Form 1098-T, two boxes are important for calculating education tax credits. Box 1 shows the total payments received by the institution for qualified tuition and related expenses during the calendar year. This figure represents the amount paid by any source—including you, your parents, or a loan—for costs that are eligible for tax credits. This amount may not align with what you were billed, but rather what was actually paid during the year from January 1 to December 31.
Box 5 reports the total amount of all scholarships or grants that the institution administered and processed during the year. The amount in Box 5 generally reduces the qualified expenses you can claim for a tax credit. For example, if Box 1 shows $10,000 in payments and Box 5 shows $4,000 in grants, you would generally only be able to use the remaining $6,000 to calculate your potential education credit. Other boxes on the form provide additional context, such as Box 8, which indicates if you were at least a half-time student, a requirement for the AOTC.
Actions to Take Regarding Your Form 1098-T
If you expected to receive a Form 1098-T but have not by early February, the first step is to check your school’s online student portal. Many institutions provide electronic access, and the form may be waiting for you there. If you cannot find it online, the next step is to contact the school’s bursar’s or registrar’s office directly. They can verify your eligibility, confirm if a form was issued, and provide instructions for obtaining a copy.
Should you receive a Form 1098-T with information you believe is incorrect, such as a wrong Social Security Number or inaccurate payment amounts, you must contact the school to resolve the issue. The IRS cannot make corrections to the form; only the issuing institution can provide a corrected Form 1098-T. While you wait for a corrected form, remember that the 1098-T is an informational tool, and you should use your own financial records, like bank statements and tuition bills, to substantiate the amounts you claim on your tax return.