Student Accounts1098T Form
What is a 1098T form?
Colleges and universities are required to report information on enrolled students to the Internal Revenue Service. The information is reported on a 1098-T form. Payment of qualifying tuition related expenses (QTRE) - i.e. largely the tuition portion of the student bill, and does not include expenses such as room & board, insurance or health fees as qualifying expenses - can have income tax implications for U.S. residents. As advised in your December e-bill, you should consult your income tax advisor if you have questions on whether it is better for you to make payment for the spring 2025 term in calendar year 2024 or 2025. 1098T forms will be available online in late January 2025.
Important change to note for 2018 form and beyond:
In previous years, your 1098-T included a figure in Box 2 that represented the qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) which were 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 payments received for QTRE paid during the calendar (tax) year. Categories that are included in box 1 as payments include: checks, lockbox payments, wires, online payments, loans, grants, scholarships, and outside scholarships.
What do I use this form for?
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.)
The dollar amounts reported on your Form 1098-T may assist you in completing IRS Form 8863 ' the form used for calculating the education tax credits that a taxpayer may claim as part of your tax return.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges is unable to provide you with individual tax advice, but should you have questions, you should seek the counsel of an informed tax preparer or adviser, or the IRS at 800-829-1040.
How do I obtain my 1098T form?
Via Electronic Notification. Hobart and William Smith Colleges has contracted with Heartland ECSI to administer the 1098T processing and to provide the tax documents to our students. By the end of January, Heartland ECSI will email students that their secure form is available for viewing/printing and will provide the instructions. Once available for viewing, students can also retrieve their form anytime from the Heartland ECSI website. For any questions related to your 1098-T statement, ECSI representatives can be reached at cservice@ecsi.net. And ECSI representatives are available to discuss 1098-T tax documents from 7:30 AM - 8:00 PM EST, Monday to Friday at 866.428.1098
The benefits of electronic notification include: faster access to the form vs. the traditional mailing process, elimination of the risk that the form would be lost, misdirected or delayed during delivery or misplaced once the student receives it, and students can access the data while traveling or away from their home address.
Allow Pop-Up Blocker Instructions
To access a 1098-T statement online the student will need their:
- First and Last Name
- Social Security Number
- Zip Code that appears on their 1098-T form
What will the form look like?
Below is a blank sample of the 2018 Form 1098-T, for your general reference.
