Tax help for a student, 1098-T form - Any suggestions

[fish_taste_good]

Hello,

I need help on my 1098-T form for my taxes. Got any ideas on where to go?

I can't afford professional help and my dad is sort of clueless. I have been reading up on it, and sort of have an idea, but i am still confused.

My 2003 Form was pretty much filled out by the school, and my 2004 is the same except they left the box blank for the "Amounts billed for qualified tuition and related expenses" (this is box 2 on the form). This blank box is what is throwing me off.

I'm wondering why this is the case. if anyone has any ideas or is willing to help me, I will put pdf's of any form needed.

Thanks,
Tripp

[AJP]

This is copied from the irs site, what is your specfic question?

Specific Instructions for Form 1098-T

File Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement, if you are an eligible educational institution. You must file for each student you enroll and for whom a reportable transaction is made. Also, if you are an insurer, file Form 1098-T for each individual for whom you made reimbursements or refunds of qualified tuition and related expenses.
Exceptions. You do not have to file Form 1098-T or furnish a statement for:

*

Courses for which no academic credit is offered, even if the student is otherwise enrolled in a degree program;
*

Nonresident alien students, unless requested by the student;
*

Students whose qualified tuition and related expenses are entirely waived or paid entirely with scholarships or grants; and
*

Students for whom you do not maintain a separate financial account and whose qualified tuition and related expenses are covered by a formal billing arrangement between an institution and the student's employer or a governmental entity, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense.

Who must file. You must file Form 1098-T if you are an eligible educational institution. An eligible educational institution that is a governmental unit, or an agency or instrumentality of a governmental unit, is subject to the reporting requirements of Form 1098-T. A designated officer or employee of the governmental entity must satisfy the reporting requirements of Form 1098-T.

Eligible educational institutions may choose to report payments received, or amounts billed, for qualified tuition and related expenses. The eligible educational institution must use the same reporting method for all calendar years unless the IRS grants permission to change the reporting method.

If another person receives or collects payments of qualified tuition and related expenses on your behalf, the other person must file Form 1098-T. However, if the other person does not possess the information necessary to comply with the reporting requirements of Form 1098-T, then you must satisfy the reporting requirements of Form 1098-T.

Also, if you are an insurer engaged in a trade or business of making refunds or reimbursements of qualified tuition and related expenses, you are required to file Form 1098-T. See box 7 on page ET-3.

Eligible educational institution. An eligible educational institution is a college, university, vocational school, or other post-secondary educational institution that is described in section 481 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 as in effect on August 5, 1997, and that is eligible to participate in the Department of Education's student aid programs. This includes most accredited public, nonprofit, and private post-secondary institutions.

Qualified tuition and related expenses. Qualified tuition and related expenses are tuition and fees a student must pay to be enrolled at or attend an eligible educational institution. The following are not qualified tuition and related expenses:

*

Amounts paid for any course or other education involving sports, games, or hobbies unless the course or other education is part of the student's degree program or is taken to acquire or improve job skills.
*

Charges and fees for room, board, insurance, transportation, and similar personal, living, or family expenses.

Academic credit. Academic credit is credit awarded by an eligible educational institution for the completion of course work leading to a post-secondary degree, certificate, or other recognized post-secondary educational credential.

Example. Student A, a medical doctor, takes a course at University X's medical school. Student A takes the course to fulfill State Y's licensing requirement that medical doctors attend continuing medical education courses each year. Student A is not enrolled in a degree program at University X and takes the medical course through University X's continuing professional education program. University X does not award Student A credit toward a post-secondary degree on an academic transcript for the completion of the course but gives Student A a certificate of attendance upon completion. University X is not required to file Form 1098-T for the course taken by Student A.

Academic period. You must file Form 1098-T for each student who is enrolled in your institution for any academic period (for example, semester, trimester, or quarter) in 2005. Determine your enrollment for each period under your own rules or use one of the following dates:

*

30 days after the first day of the academic period,
*

A date during the period when enrollment data must be collected for purposes of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System administered by the Department of Education, or
*

A date during the period when you must report enrollment data to the state, to your governing board, or to some other external governing body.

Additional information. For more information about reporting on Form 1098-T, see Regulations section 1.6050S-1.

Statements to students. If you are required to file Form 1098-T, you must provide a statement or acceptable substitute, on paper or electronically, to the student. For more information about the requirements to furnish a statement to each student, see part H in the 2005 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Student's address. In the student's address box of Form 1098-T, enter the student's permanent address. That is, enter the student's home or other long-term address where he or she can receive forwarded mail. You may use a temporary address only if you do not know the permanent address.

Information contact and service provider. You must provide your name, address, and telephone number. In addition, you may include information on a third-party service provider who filed the form or who may answer questions about the statement. Enter the service provider's information in the box below the student's name and address.


Caution
You must provide the telephone number for the information contact at the institution. Generally this is an administrative office or department. Do not provide the institution's general telephone number.

Account number. The account number is required if you have multiple accounts for a recipient for whom you are filing more than one Form 1098-T. Additionally, the IRS encourages you to designate an account number for all Forms 1098-T that you file. See part P in the 2005 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Box 1. Payments Received for Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses

If you use this method of reporting, enter the amount of payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses from any source 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 the same calendar year.
Box 2. Amounts Billed for Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses

If you use this method of reporting, enter the amounts billed during the calendar year for qualified tuition and related expenses. The amount reported is the total amount billed less any reductions in charges made during the calendar year that relate to the amounts billed for the same calendar year.
Box 3. Adjustments Made for a Prior Year
Payments received. Enter reimbursements or refunds of qualified tuition and related expenses made during the calendar year that relate to payments received that were reported for a prior year after 2002.

Amounts billed. Enter any reductions in charges made for qualified tuition and related expenses made during the calendar year that relate to amounts billed that were reported for a prior year after 2002.

Box 4. Scholarships or Grants

Enter the total amount of any scholarships or grants that you administered and processed during the calendar year for the payment of the student's costs of attendance. However, see Exceptions on page ET-2.
Box 5. Adjustments to Scholarships or Grants for a Prior Year

Enter the amount of any reduction to the amount of scholarships or grants that were reported for a prior year after 2002.
Box 6. Checkbox for Amounts for an Academic Period Beginning in January through March of 2006

Check the box if any payments received, or amounts billed, for qualified tuition and related expenses reported for 2005 relate to an academic period that begins in January through March
of 2006.
Box 7. Reimbursements or Refunds From an Insurance Contract

If you are an insurer, enter the total amount of reimbursements or refunds of qualified tuition and related expenses that you made for the student during 2005.
Box 8. Check if at Least Half-Time Student

Check this box if the student was at least a half-time student during any academic period that began in 2005. 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. Your institution's standard for a half-time student work load must equal or exceed the standards established by the Department of Education under the Higher Education Act and set forth in 34 C.F.R. section 674.2(b).
Box 9. Check if a Graduate Student

Check this box if the student was a graduate student. The student is a graduate student if the student was enrolled in a program or programs leading to a graduate-level degree, graduate-level certificate, or other recognized graduate-level educational credential.

[fish_taste_good]

hehe - i have read almost all of that already.

I am wondering why my institution filled out my 2003 form and not my 2004 form. My contact person wasnt much help.

Thanks,

Alan

[AJP]

Ok so is your question about how to fill out the form? If so what is it. I am confused.

[fish_taste_good]

yea - sort of.

I am wondering why my school had a figure in box 2 of my 2003 form, and not one in my 2004 form. They are making it seem like i have no tuition expenses for 2004 IMO.

[BrianD]

Some institutions don't fill out the "qualified tuition" box. They leave it up to the student to compute the amount of tuition they paid, less any scholarships or grants. The main reason they still send the 1098-T is to show you (and the IRS) that you qualify as a student for purposes of the tuition credit (Box 8 should be checked).

[AJP]

Brian you are so smart, I almost think that you are a CPA.

[fish_taste_good]

hello,

makes sense to me. Do you have any ideas as to why they did it in 2003 and not this year? I still have a semester from when i was in school, spring of 2004. However, I just noticed that on my 2003 form, there is a box checked (#6) that says "The amount in box 1 or 2 includes amounts for an academic period beginning January - March 2004".

Would this explain why there is nothing pretyped in box 2 on my 2004 form?

[BrianD]

Did you pay any tuition in 2004, or did you pay it all in 2003?

[fish_taste_good]

tuition was taken out of the total loans and grants i was awarded.

For example, i was awarded 3000 intotal of loans and grants, tuition was 1000, so i received a check made out to me for 2000.

That is basically what happened. just not with the exact same figures

[BrianD]

Were your grants more than your tuition? If so, you don't have any out-of-pocket tuition costs, so you have no deduction. Loans don't matter, you have to pay them back.

[fish_taste_good]

ah - that makes perfect sense. The loans only matter for the interest. Sallie Mae has a form / letter on their site about that. I think it's the 1098-E form.

One last question if you don't mind in regards to school related expenses. I purchased a laptop for school (i was in programming classes and it was easier to have a laptop than the school computers). It was not required, however, that is all i used it for. Is it legal to use that as a deduction? I know my living costs such as rent and bills isn't, but i was hoping the laptop was / is.

If i ask anymore deduction questions i'll paypal you some cash for your trouble. :) And that is the truth. :)

I really do appreciate your help in this.

Thanks,

Alan

[BrianD]

There is no tax deduction for using your computer for personal use (such as for an education/school). You have "webmaster" as your occupation. If you generate income from that, you can potentially offset your income from the "webmaster" jobs with the cost of the computer and related equipment. If you don't report that income, never mind ;)

[fish_taste_good]

webmaster should read IT Administrator. It seems as though my boss has me making websites more often than anything else...hence the webmaster tag.

so i guess i am sort of sol. that sort of sucks as far as the laptop and tuition goes. I just watched my tax return drop about 700.

BLAH

thanks for your help. If you had increased my tax return, paypal your way. hehe