Information About The "Form 1098-T"
Chesapeake College reports numbers on its tax form using registration information and not cash payments for the calendar year. This method is provided by our software vendor and meets the current IRS reporting requirements. The following questions and answers guide you through the basics of the 1098-T tax form and offer explanations about the boxes on the form.
- What is a 1098-T form?
- Who is eligible for the tax credit?
- What are the boxes on the form?
- What form or forms do I complete?
- If I do not qualify for the Hope Scholarship and the American Opportunity Credit, can I apply for the Lifetime Learning Credit?
- Other recommendations
What is a 1098-T form?
The 1098-T tax form informs the taxpayer of the transactions on their account for the calendar/tax year in question.
What Are The Boxes On The Form?
- As of tax year 2018, box "one" (formerly not used for reporting purposes) will display the amount of QTRE (qualified tuition and related expenses) you paid during the year. See this document for more information.
- Box "two" represents total amount billed for tuition and qualified fees during the calendar year. If the student received a waiver during the year, then the amount of the waiver would reduce the amount in box "two."
- Box "four" includes any reductions in charges made for qualified tuition and related expenses made during the calendar year that relate to amounts billed that were reported for any prior year after 2002.
- Box "five" includes the total amount of any scholarships or grants that were processed on your account for the calendar year for the payment of the student's cost of attendance.
- Box "six" shows adjustments for scholarships and/or grants for a semester held in the prior tax year.
- Box "seven" will be marked with a "Y" if the student made a registration in the current reporting tax year but the class is scheduled for the next tax year. The registration is reflected in box "two."
- Box "eight" indicates if the student was at least half-time during any academic period that began in the current reporting tax year.
Who is eligible for the tax credit?
The student, if not considered a dependent for income tax purposes, may be eligible to claim a credit. If the student had tuition and fees paid by the parents, then the parents may be able to claim the credit providing income for the year is within IRS guidelines. Following is an excerpt from the IRS web page for more information on specific education credits/deductions. Please refer to the IRS instructions for reporting requirements and/or consult a tax advisor for assistance in completing forms.
Tax credits
American Opportunity Credit
Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), more parents and students qualify for a tax credit, the American opportunity credit, to pay for college expenses.
The American opportunity credit originally modified the existing Hope credit for tax years 2009 and 2010, and was later extended for an additional two years - 2011 and 2012 - making the benefit available to a broader range of taxpayers, including many with higher incomes and those who owe no tax. It also adds required course materials to the list of qualifying expenses and allows the credit to be claimed for four post-secondary education years instead of two. Many of those eligible qualify for the maximum annual credit of $2,500 per student.
The full credit is available to individuals whose modified adjusted gross income is $80,000 or less, or $160,000 or less for married couples filing a joint return. The credit is phased out for taxpayers with incomes above these levels. These income limits are higher than under the existing Hope and lifetime learning credits.
Special rules applied to students attending college in a Midwestern disaster area for tax-year 2009, only, when taxpayers could choose to claim either a special expanded Hope credit of up to $3,600 for the student or the regular American opportunity credit.
If you have questions about the American opportunity credit, these questions and answers might help. For more information, see American opportunity credit.
Hope Credit
The Hope credit generally applies to 2008 and earlier tax years. It helps parents and students pay for post-secondary education. The Hope credit is a nonrefundable credit. This means that it can reduce your tax to zero, but if the credit is more than your tax the excess will not be refunded to you. The Hope credit you are allowed may be limited by the amount of your income and the amount of your tax.
The Hope credit is for the payment of the first two years of tuition and related expenses for an eligible student for whom the taxpayer claims an exemption on the tax return. Normally, you can claim tuition and required enrollment fees paid for your own, as well as your dependents' college education. The Hope credit targets the first two years of post-secondary education, and an eligible student must be enrolled at least half time.
Generally, you can claim the Hope credit if all three of the following requirements are met:
- You pay qualified education expenses of higher education.
- You pay the education expenses for an eligible student.
- The eligible student is either yourself, your spouse or a dependent for whom you claim an exemption on your tax return.
You cannot take both an education credit and a deduction for tuition and fees (see Deductions, below) for the same student in the same year. In some cases, you may do better by claiming the tuition and fees deduction instead of the Hope credit.
Education credits are claimed on Form 8863, Education Credits (Hope and Lifetime Learning Credits). For details on these and other education-related tax breaks, see IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits of Education.
Lifetime Learning Credit
The lifetime learning credit helps parents and students pay for post-secondary education.
For the tax year, you may be able to claim a lifetime learning credit of up to $2,000 for qualified education expenses paid for all students enrolled in eligible educational institutions. There is no limit on the number of years the lifetime learning credit can be claimed for each student. However, a taxpayer cannot claim both the Hope or American opportunity credit and lifetime learning credits for the same student in one year. Thus, the lifetime learning credit may be particularly helpful to graduate students, students who are only taking one course and those who are not pursuing a degree.
Generally, you can claim the lifetime learning credit if all three of the following requirements are met:
- You pay qualified education expenses of higher education.
- You pay the education expenses for an eligible student.
- The eligible student is either yourself, your spouse or a dependent for whom you claim an exemption on your tax return.
If you're eligible to claim the lifetime learning credit and are also eligible to claim the Hope or American opportunity credit for the same student in the same year, you can choose to claim either credit, but not both.
If you pay qualified education expenses for more than one student in the same year, you can choose to take credits on a per-student, per-year basis. This means that, for example, you can claim the Hope or American opportunity credit for one student and the lifetime learning credit for another student in the same year.
Deductions
Tuition And Fees Deduction
You may be able to deduct qualified education expenses paid during the year for yourself, your spouse or your dependent. You cannot claim this deduction if your filing status is married filing separately or if another person can claim an exemption for you as a dependent on his or her tax return. The qualified expenses must be for higher education.
The tuition and fees deduction can reduce the amount of your income subject to tax by up to $4,000. This deduction, reported on Form 8917, Tuition and Fees Deduction, is taken as an adjustment to income. This means you can claim this deduction even if you do not itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). This deduction may be beneficial to you if, for example, you cannot take the lifetime learning credit because your income is too high.
You may be able to take one of the education credits for your education expenses instead of a tuition and fees deduction. You can choose the one that will give you the lower tax.
Generally, you can claim the tuition and fees deduction if all three of the following requirements are met:
- You pay qualified education expenses of higher education.
- You pay the education expenses for an eligible student.
- The eligible student is yourself, your spouse, or your dependent for whom you claim an exemption on your tax return.
You cannot claim the tuition and fees deduction if any of the following apply:
- Your filing status is married filing separately.
- Another person can claim an exemption for you as a dependent on his or her tax return. You cannot take the deduction even if the other person does not actually claim that exemption.
- Your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) is more than $80,000 ($160,000 if filing a joint return).
- You were a nonresident alien for any part of the year and did not elect to be treated as a resident alien for tax purposes. More information on nonresident aliens can be found in Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.
- You or anyone else claims an education credit for expenses of the student for whom the qualified education expenses were paid.
Student-activity fees and expenses for course-related books, supplies and equipment are included in qualified education expenses only if the fees and expenses must be paid to the institution as a condition of enrollment or attendance.
Source: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Benefits-for-Education:-Information-Center
For more information about your â1098-Tâ please contact our Business Office.