Tax Information – Educational Tax Credit (Form 1098-T)

Box 1. Payments Received for Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses: (https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1098et):

Box 1 is the total amount of payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) 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.

The calculation is based on calendar year totals, Jan 1 – Dec 31. It calculates all QTRE for the calendar year, it calculates all payments made in the same calendar year. Box 1 will represent all payments up to the maximum QTRE within the same calendar year.

As an example an instate student with housing beginning in the summer of 2021, through the period of January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021:

Box 1 will be $11,286 which is includes the future spring QTRE because total payments made were less than or equal to the maximum amount of QTRE for 2021 tax year.

The system will not separate out payments applied to housing; it will only look at overall payments made versus the overall QTRE for the same calendar year and report payments up to the maximum QTRE for that year.

Colleges and universities are required under Internal Revenue Code Section 6050S to issue the Form 1098-T for the purpose of determining a taxpayer’s eligibility for various tax credits and/or deductions.

You will need to bring a photo ID and visit the Registrar office to verify your SSN. If your SSN is listed wrong, please fill out the W-9S form and bring to the Bursar office to update.

Purdue must file a Form 1098-T for each student enrolled for the given calendar year — and for whom a reportable transaction is made. However, the IRS does not require the University to provide a Form 1098-T for:

• Courses for which no academic credit is offered, even if the student is otherwise enrolled in a degree program.
• Nonresident alien students.
• Students whose qualified tuition and related expenses are entirely waived or paid entirely with scholarships and/or grants.

Students whose expenses are covered by a formal third-party billing arrangement.

Depending on your particular situation, Purdue may not be required to produce a Form 1098-T for you. See exceptions explained in the question above.

Any student who is eligible to receive a Form 1098-T can access it online through their myPurdue account as soon as it is available each year for which they are eligible. The forms are required to be available by Jan. 31 each year. To view your form electronically, you will need to:

• Students can log-in to access your student account here
• Authorized user can log-in to access their account here

Once logged in you can view the 1098-T by clicking the 1098-T Statement link in the middle of the page.  Or, at the top left click on ‘My Account’ select ‘Statements’, then choose 1098-T Tax Statements.  The most recent 2020 tax statement will be listed at the top.  If any issues downloading the pdf statement, you can find troubleshooting tips here: https://www.purdue.edu/bursar/tutorials/index.php

For purposes of the tuition and fees deduction, qualified education expenses are tuition and certain related expenses required for enrollment or attendance at an eligible educational institution. The housing, meal plan, orientation, payment plan and other miscellaneous fees are generally not qualifying expenses for tax purposes.

Please reference IRS Publication 970 Tax Benefits for Education (pdf) for additional guidance. Purdue cannot legally provide tax advice. Please consult with a qualified tax preparer or the IRS if you have tax-related questions.

• Box 1 represents amounts paid for qualifying tuition and related expenses.
• Box 2 is not reported by Purdue beginning with 2018.
• Box 4 represents reductions made to amounts billed for qualified tuition and related expenses that were reported for a prior calendar year.
• Box 5 represents the total amount of scholarships, grants or third-party sponsor credits that were processed for the payment of qualified tuition and related expenses.
• Box 6 represents the amount of reductions or refunds made for scholarships or grants that were reported for a prior year.
• Box 8 is only checked if you have been at least a half-time student (six credit hours) for a least one academic period that began during the calendar year.
• Box 9 is checked if you were enrolled as a graduate student for at least one academic period during the calendar year for which reporting is required.

Yes. Section 6050S of the Internal Revenue Code, as enacted by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, requires institutions to file information returns to assist taxpayers and the IRS in determining eligibility for the American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning education tax credits. The annual deadline to file the required tax information electronically is March 31, although data may be transmitted earlier.

Keep it for your personal records and share it with your tax preparer. Purdue University sends your 1098-T information to the IRS. The information contained in the 1098-T will help you determine if you may claim various tax credits and/or deductions for qualified educational expenses. Please be aware that the 1098-T captures financial information on a calendar-year basis (Jan. 1-Dec. 31) and you will likely need your statements of account (available through Purdue’s secure payment gateway) and other personal receipts (e.g., books and supplies) to calculate your tax credits and deductions.

In 2017 and before, Purdue reported qualified charges in Box 2. Effective Jan. 1, 2018, the IRS is requiring universities to begin reporting what students paid toward qualified educational expenses in Box 1 of the 1098-T.

Please note: Payments made between Jan.1 and Dec. 31, 2018, toward Spring 2018 tuition, may not appear on Form 1098-T for 2018 due to the following reasons: 

• Spring 2018 qualified tuition and related expenses were billed in November 2017 and reported in Box 2 of the 2017 Form 1098-T.
• Since the qualified tuition was reported in 2017, we cannot include payment for these items in 2018 in order to avoid duplicate reporting to the IRS in a transition year.
  • For this reason, we suggest including copies of your 2017 and 2018 forms as well as your account payment history when preparing your 2018 taxes.

Although the transition can be a bit confusing, nothing has been lost or misreported during the transition from reporting in Box 2 in 2017 to reporting payments in Box 1 in 2018.

Purdue cannot legally provide tax advice. Please consult with a qualified tax preparer or the IRS if you have questions concerning how to use this form on your taxes. For additional support, please review the following resources and websites:

• IRS Publications and Forms
• Form 8863 Instructions for Education Credits
• Form 1040 Instructions (PDF)
• IRS Information on American Opportunity Credit
• IRS Information on Lifetime Learning Credit
• Compare Education Credits and Other Deductions

You may be able to claim an education credit if you, your spouse or a dependent you claim on your tax return was a student enrolled at or attending an eligible educational institution.

If a student is claimed as a dependent on another’s tax return, only the person who claims the student as a dependent can claim a credit for the student’s qualified education expenses. If a student is not claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return, only the student can claim the credit.

If you claim an exemption on your tax return for an eligible student who is your dependent, treat any expenses paid (or deemed paid) by your dependent as if you had paid them. See additional restrictions for claiming the credit in the Instructions to Form 8863 (PDF).

• https://www.studentdebtrelief.us/college-tips/are-scholarships-taxable/
• https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc421

• IRS Publications and Forms
• Form 8863 Instructions for Education Credits
• Form 1040 Instructions (PDF)
• IRS Information on American Opportunity Credit
• IRS Information on Lifetime Learning Credit
• Compare Education Credits and Other Deductions