1098-T Tax Credits
The Tax Reform Act of 1997 provides our students with Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credit opportunities. In participation with this program, each January the college sends the students and the IRS Form 1098-T.
You can now opt in to view and print your E-1098-T form through Self Service.
The benefits of opting for electronic 1098-Ts are:
- Immediate access to the 1098-T form, earlier than the traditional mailing process.
- Online access to 1098-T through self-service eliminates the chance your 1098-T is lost, misdirected, delayed during delivery, or misplaced.
- You’ll have 24/7 access to your 1098-T, even when traveling or away from home.
- Access 1098-Ts from prior years online.
Opting in for an electronic 1098-T is easy:
- Login to Self Service.
- Click on “Financial Information.”
- Click on “Tax information (View 1098Ts).”
- Select the option “Receive my 1098 only in electronic format.”
- View and save or print the 1098-T by clicking on the year.
Please note: students who select the “Withhold my consent” option will not have the ability to view their 1098-T information through Self Service. 1098-T forms will be mailed to these students by January 31, 2020.
Important Changes to the 1098-T tax Statement
The IRS has made it required for all the colleges to report Payments received that is the amount reported in Box 1 of the 1098-T form. As per the requirement, Middlesex County College is now reporting Box 1-payment received and Box 2-Amount billed will no longer be reported.
All questions relating to these programs should be directed to your tax professional. The college is prohibited from offering any tax advice. The student should not refer to the college for explanations relating to eligibility requirements, calculation of qualified expenses, or tuition and fees deductions.
Explanation of Boxes reported on 1098-T form:
For more information, please visit https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf
Box 1.
- Payments Received for Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses
- Total amount of payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses from all sources during the calendar year.
- The amount reported is the total amount of payments received less any reimbursements or refunds made during the calendar year that relate to the payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses during the same calendar year.
- The amount reported is not reduced by scholarships and grants reported in box 5.
Box 4. Reimbursements or refunds of qualified tuition and related expenses made in 2019 that relate to payments received that were reported for any prior year.
Box 5. Total amount of any scholarships or grants received and processed during the calendar year for the payment of the student’s costs of attendance.
Box 6. Adjustments to Scholarships or Grants for a Prior Year. An amount of any reduction to the amount of scholarships or grants that were reported for any prior year.
Box 7. Checkbox for Amounts for an Academic Period Beginning in January Through March of the following year. The box is checked if any payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses reported for 2020 relate to an academic period that begins in January through March of 2021.
Box 8. Check if at Least Half-Time Student – A half-time student is a student enrolled for at least half the full-time academic workload for the course of study the student is pursuing.
Publication 970: Tax Benefits for Higher Education
Form 8863: Education Credits (Hope and Lifetime Learning Credits)
Contacting the IRS