Claiming Your Education Tax Benefits

Higher education costs may be eligible for tax benefits, and students are provided with the 1098-T form to assist in the preparation of annual tax returns. The 1098-T form is a “Tuition Payment Statement” that all higher educational institutions are required to provide to eligible students and to the IRS.

1098-T forms are mailed by the end of January each year to the permanent address on your student account.  This is the same address that you receive other Trinity mailings, such as statements and payment arrangements information.

Frequently Asked Questions

If your question regarding your 1098-T form is not answered here, please contact us, and a member of the Trinity Business Office will get back in touch with you within 48 hours of receipt.

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide instantaneous responses to 1098-T questions, so please ensure that you have your questions answered prior to your appointment with your tax preparer.

1. What is the 1098-T form?
2. How will I know when the 1098-T form is ready?
3. If I log in to the website, will I still receive a 1098-T form in the mail?
4. How can I get a new/duplicate copy of my 1098-T?
5. My name or social security number are incorrect on my 1098-T.  How can I have this corrected?
6. Why is box 1 blank on my 1098-T form?
7. What does an amount in box 4 mean?
8. What does an amount in box 5 mean?
9. What does an amount in box 6 mean?
10. What charges are considered “qualified” or “eligible” for reporting in Box 2?
11. Why are my Spring charges not showing up on my 1098-T?
12. I am a parent.  Can I receive a copy of my child’s 1098-T form?
13. My tax preparer and I have questions regarding how to use the 1098-T form in preparing my tax return.  Who can I contact for assistance with completing my tax return?

Answer: The 1098-T is a form designed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and used by colleges and universities to report tax-related information concerning educational expenses, pursuant to the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997. Trinity is required to report information including the student’s name, address, taxpayer’s identification number (TIN) academic/enrollment status and (since 2003) any amount of qualified tuition expenses or scholarships/grants (found in boxes 2 and 5, respectively). These forms are intended to be used by students as a guide while completing their individual federal tax returns, and should not be taken as any tax advice given by the University. It is a helpful step in applying for the federal income tax education credits, however, it does not contain all of the information necessary to apply, requiring additional information that must be researched and obtained by the student and their tax preparer.

Answer:  You will receive an email to your Trinity email address with login information to the service provider website when 1098-T forms are available to be viewed online.  This is typically in early January.  Any forms not viewed online will be mailed out to the address on record with the University by January 31.  Please note that the email will specify that the default password is the last four digits of your social security number.  However, if you changed your password last year, the password on your account will remain what you had changed it to.  You will be able to click “forgot your password” to reset your password.

Answer:  By logging into the servicer provider website, you are consenting to receive your 1098-T form electronically. A form will not be mailed to you.  However, you will be able to log in as often as you wish to print out copies of your form.

Answer:  If you did not receive the 1098-T form, or need a duplicate form, please go to the website of our service provider.  Trinity’s site ID is 10436, which is needed to log in to the website.  Using your powercampus ID as the ID, and the last four digits of your social security number as the password, you will be able to print out a duplicate form for your records.

If you do not know your Powercampus ID, please log into Self-Service.  If you click on “My Profile” and then “Account Information,” you will see a nine digit System ID, separated with dashes, as follows XXX-XXX-XXX.  Your powercampus ID is the nine digits, with the dashes moved to be XXX-XX-XXXX.  Alternatively, you can email us at businessoffice@trinitydc.edu with your contact information, and we can look up the information for you.

Please note that 1098T forms for prior years starting with 2008 are still available online, if you need them for your records.  There is a year drop-down menu within the service provider website. If you need a 1098T form for a year prior to 2008, please contact the Business Office.

Answer: Contact the Business Office via email.  The Business Office will correct your information online within 48 hours of your request, and then you can go to www.tsc1098t.com to print out a corrected form.

Answer: Payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses will be blank for all Trinity students.  Colleges and Universities are directed to choose a method of reporting, etiher by reporting the payments received for qualified tuition in Box 1 or by reporting the amounts billed for qualified tuition and related expenses in Box 2.  Trinity has chosen the second method.  This does not mean that your “payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses” are zero.  To review all payments and other credits applied to your account during the calendar year, please review your account in Self-Service.

Also, please note that Trinity bills tuition expenses for classes as of the date they were registered for. For example: If a student registered for classes for the Spring semester in November of the previous calendar year, those charges would be found on the previous year’s 1098-T, as that was the year the charges were billed.

Answer: Box 4, “Adjustments made for a prior year” shows an amount if qualified tuition and related expenses that were reported on a 1098-T form for a prior year were subsequently adjusted or reduced during 2010.

Answer: Box 5, “Scholarships or grants” shows the net amount of certain forms of educational assistance that was received or applied to your student account between January and December of the current tax year, regardless of the term for which the funds were originally intended.

Answer: Box 6, “Adjustments to Scholarships or Grants for a Prior Year” shows an amount if scholarships or grants that were reported on a 1098-T for a prior year year were subsequently adjusted or reduced in in the current tax year.

Answer: Eligible or qualified charges are any tuition charges plus the student activity fees, laboratory fees, graduation fees, and enrollment fees.  All other charges to your student account, including room and board, are not considered eligible charges.

Answer: Students automatically charge their accounts by registering for classes.  If you registered for Spring classes during the regular registration period (typically November and December), you charged your account at that time, making those charges eligible to claim the previous years.  These would have been reflected on your previous 1098-T.  Similarly, if you have already registered for this coming Spring, these charges will be included on this year’s 1098-T form.

Answer: Students must make all information requests.  The student is responsible for providing information to other parties in accordance with the Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA).

Answer: Trinity employees are not authorized to offer any personal tax advice.  Please address all questions and concerns regarding personal tax matters to a tax consultant/advisor or the IRS directly at 1-800-829-1040.  Alternatively, you may want to consult the following websites before calling the IRS:

• www.irs.gov (Type 1098-T in search box)
• Federal Education Tax Benefits Guide
• Various Federal Tax Cuts and Credits