You may be eligible for a tax credit and/or the Higher Education Tuition and Fees Deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses if you have paid under one of these three tax benefits designed to help students or their parents finance their post-secondary education:
- Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, available to students who take one or more classes from a college or university to pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree, certificate, other recognized credential, or to acquire or improve job skills;
- Hope Scholarship Tax Credit (“Hope”), available to students who are enrolled in one of the first two years of post-secondary education and are carrying at least a half-time workload while pursuing an undergraduate degree, certificate, or other recognized credential;
- Higher Education Tuition and Fees Deduction, available to tax filers whose modified Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) is too high to qualify for the Hope and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits.
The information above may or may not reflect recent revisions in IRS regulations. The IRS website contains more information. Please check with your tax preparer/adviser to ensure that you have the most recent information available.
The 1098-T for calendar year 2023 will be available by January 31, 2024.
Information Regarding the 1098-T For Calendar Year 2023
This information relating to potential educational credits is being provided to you for use in preparing your tax return for 2023. You can obtain or order IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Higher Education and copies of IRS Form 8863, Education Credits (Hope and Lifetime Learning Credit), from an IRS Office near you or download information at www.irs.gov. Due to the complex nature of these tax regulations, we strongly recommend that you contact a tax adviser regarding these tax provisions.
Trinity University does not file a Form 1098-T or furnish statements for:
- Non-resident alien students, unless provided a valid SSN or ITIN number and requested by the student.
- Students that do not provide a valid SSN to the Registrar's Office at Trinity University.
Students can complete a Form W-9S, Request for Student's Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, and submit to the Registrar's Office, prior to the tax year form preparation and will receive a 1098-T form.
The 1098-T form reflects transactions posted to your Trinity University student account for calendar year 2023 (January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023). This is not a complete summary of all transactions posted to the student account since not all transactions are relevant to the tax credit.
1098-T Tax Statement for 2023
In previous years, your 1098-T included a figure in Box 2 that represented the qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) we billed to your student account for the calendar (tax) year. Due to a change to institutional reporting requirements under federal law, beginning with tax year 2018, we will report in Box 1 the amount of QTRE you paid during the year.
Depending on your income (or your family’s income, if you are a dependent), whether you were considered full or half-time enrolled, and the amount of your qualified educational expenses for the year, you may be eligible for a federal education tax credit. (You can find detailed information about claiming education tax credits in IRS Publication 970, page 9.)
- Box 1: Amounts paid for qualified tuition and related expenses
Box 1 on the 1098-T shows the total payments received by Trinity University in 2023 from any source for qualified tuition and related expenses, less any reimbursements or refunds made during 2023 that relate to those payments received during 2023. Typically, qualified tuition and related expenses must be required by and paid to the institution for enrollment purposes. They include tuition and mandatory fees such as the activity fee and course related fees (i.e. geology fee, art studio fee, etc.). They do not include books, room and board, insurance, equipment, transportation or other similar personal living expenses.
This box will include payments made for tuition, fees and related expenses for the following academic terms: Spring 2023, Summer 2023, Fall 2023 and Spring 2024. The calendar IRS reporting year for 1098-T purposes does not coincide with the Trinity academic year. Consequently, payments reported in box 1 of the 1098-T may not coincide with those shown on semester statements previously received. For example, Trinity bills for the Spring term in December each year; therefore, your calendar year 2023 1098-T form will normally exclude Spring 2023 payments (if applicable), but will include Spring 2024 (if applicable). Box 7 of the 1098-T will be checked if Spring 2024 payments have been included.
- Box 5: Scholarships or Grants
Box 5 on the 1098-T shows the total of all scholarships or grants administered and processed by Trinity University. The amount of scholarships or grants for the calendar year (including those not reported by Trinity) may reduce the amount of the education credit you claim for the year.
Like Box 1, Box 5 may include scholarships and grants posted to the student's account for the following terms: Spring 2023, Summer 2023, Fall 2023, and Spring 2024. The calendar IRS reporting year for 1098-T purposes does not coincide with the Trinity academic year. Consequently, scholarship and grant amounts reported in Box 5 of the 1098-T may not coincide with semester statements previously received.
Because federal and state regulations dictate the timing of some financial aid disbursal, your 1098-T will typically include scholarships and grants for Spring 2023 (if applicable), but may exclude financial aid for Spring 2024 (if applicable) depending on when these funds are received. Thus, our reporting of information on the 1098-T differs for payments versus scholarships and grants due to timing differences in recognizing transactions on our system. Note: This is typical for many private institutions.
- Other Information and Contacts
There may be other relevant transactions that are not reflected on your Trinity University student account; therefore, they will not be reflected on this 1098-T. For example, if you received a non-taxable third-party scholarship or grant, and deposited those funds directly into your bank account, the transaction is not reflected on the 1098-T. Nevertheless, you will need to consider such transactions in your calculations.
The 1098-T should be used only as a starting point in your research to determine if you are eligible for tax credit or tax deductions. Your personal financial records serve as the supporting documentation for your federal income tax return. You can access all your account history for the calendar year via the Student Account Suite.
This document is not intended as tax advice, but merely to provide information to assist you in preparing your tax return. Trinity Student Financial Services staff will not be able to answer specific tax questions, but are able to answer questions you may have regarding transactions between you and the University during the reporting period.
If you consented to receive the 1098-T form in an electronic format and you subsequently want to request a paper copy, e-mail the request to studentfinancialservices@trinity.edu. To ensure your security, the e-mail must come from your Trinity University e-mail address. The form will be mailed to the permanent address on file. The deadline to request a paper copy for the current tax year is January 5th.