Tax Information

Charges considered qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) include:

• Instructional Fee
• General Fee
• Non-Resident Surcharge
• Career Development Fee
• Admission Fee
• Business Course Surcharges
• Special Course Fees/Surcharges
• Market Driven Tuition Charges
• E-Learning Fees

Charges not counted toward qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) include:

• Housing
• Food
• Books, Course Materials, Supplies, and Equipment
• MUlaa
• Student Health Insurance
• Student Health Service Charges
• Orientation Fees
• Study Abroad Program/Admin Fees
• Parking Fees/Fines
• Disciplinary Fees

The tax year is considered the calendar year, not the academic year. It is sometimes referred to as the reporting year. All amounts on the 1098-T are based on transactions that occurred during the tax year. For more information, review the descriptions for the 1098-T’s various boxes below.

Box 1 contains payments (with refunds subtracted out) made during the tax year up to, but not in excess of, QTRE charges billed within the same tax year. “Payments” may be from any source, including direct payments, 529 plan payments, all types of financial aid, and private loans/scholarships. Passthrough or point-of-sale payments are not included.

Box 4 contains the net adjustment of charges and payments on any previous year’s 1098-T during the current tax year. 

Box 5 contains scholarships, grants, waivers, and third-party payments applied during the tax year.

Box 6 contains net adjustments made to any scholarships or grants for any previous year’s 1098-T during the current tax year.

 

Box 7 is checked if any payments that were made during the tax year are applied to any billed QTRE for an academic period beginning in January through March of the following year.

 

Box 8 is checked if a student was enrolled at least half-time (six credit hours) during the tax year.

Box 9 is checked if the student was enrolled at the graduate level during the tax year.

If you would like to receive your 1098-T electronically, complete the 1098-T Electronic Consent for Miami University. You will be asked to provide your Banner ID, name, and email address. Heartland ECSI’s website is a secure website, and Heartland ECSI will not share your private information with anyone. Students have until January 15 of each year to provide consent to receive their 1098-T electronically.

Receiving the 1098-T electronically offers the following benefits:

• Provides access to the form 1098-T earlier than the traditional mailing process.
• Eliminates the chance that the 1098-T will get lost, misdirected, or delayed during delivery, or misplaced once the student receives it.
• Students can receive their 1098-T even while traveling or on assignment away from their home address.

If you elect to receive the electronic 1098-T, no paper statement will be mailed to you. When your statement is ready, an email will be sent to you with instructions on how to access your 1098-T statement online. To protect your privacy, the email will contain no information specific to you or your financial information. If you need assistance, call Heartland ECSI’s 1098-T Hotline at 866-428-1098 or use Heartland ECSI’s online chat feature.

 

Students can access their 1098-T statement quickly and easily by visiting Heartland ECSI using one of the following methods:

• If you already have a profile with Heartland ECSI, sign in.
  • If you have not yet connected your tax statements to your account, you will need to connect them using your Heartland Key. Click the “Connect on Account” button and enter your tax statement Heartland Key.
• If you have not registered a profile, click the “Sign In or Register” button in the upper right side of the page. Complete the registration section to create your profile and then connect your tax account by entering your Heartland Key.

Don’t want to create a profile? No problem. You can view your current tax statement by clicking on the View Your Tax Form link, selecting your school, and entering your first and last name, Social Security Number, and zip code. Be advised you will only be able to view your current tax statement without a profile. If you want to view previous year tax statements, you will need to create a profile.

Current and former students who do not sign up by January 15 to receive an electronic 1098-T will receive a paper 1098-T if eligible. Paper forms will be mailed to the student by January 31 of each year. If you have questions about your paper 1098-T, contact the One Stop for your campus.

If you elect to receive an electronic 1098-T, no paper statement will be mailed to you.

International tax forms pertaining to United States wages that are exempt from federal and state withholding because of tax treaties, non-qualified scholarships covered for international students, honorariums paid to international guests, and certain monies paid to international corporations, should be taken to Payroll Services, located in Room 2, Roudebush Hall.

International tax forms pertaining to the certification of educational charges (amount of tuition and fees paid by the student for specific terms attended) should be taken to the One Stop on your campus.

Yes. The tax year is confined to a single calendar year (e.g. 2020 or 2021). An academic year typically spans two tax years (e.g. the 2020-21 Academic Year, including the 2020 Fall Semester and the 2021 Spring Semester). It is important to understand the distinction between tax year and academic year when reviewing payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE) on your 1098-T.

Payments on the 1098-T are counted up to the Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE) billed within the same tax (reporting) year, with any refunds received subtracted out. Payments cannot exceed this amount. The QTRE may have been posted in a separate reporting year from when the payment(s) was/were received. Please note that “payments” may also include loans, grants, scholarships, and 529 plan funds, not just direct payments.

This is typically seen when a student graduated in the spring of the reporting year. The payment was likely made after the start of the new year (or payments if the student was in a payment plan). However, the charges were posted to the student’s account in November/December of the year before, when spring semester billing was assessed.

Box 1 is for payments, not charges. Even if charges were posted in November/December, the box will only be checked if a payment toward those charges was made before the end of the reporting year.

A payment, charge, or scholarship that had originally been reported in the previous year’s 1098-T was reversed during the reporting year and thus was reflected on the current 1098-T. Because of this, students may receive a 1098-T with adjustments in Box 4 and/or Box 6 even if they have no reportable transactions in Boxes 1 or 5.

The “Corrected” box will be checked if a student is issued a new 1098-T with any information changed from the original (e.g. updated address, corrected/updated SSN/TIN, updated calculation, Box 7/8/9 incorrectly checked, etc.).

In calculating the 1098-T, all payments from all sources—except passthrough or point-of-sale payments like MULAA, dining dollars, or study abroad administrative or program fees—are calculated up to the QTRE, with any refunds subtracted out. The includes all financial aid—grants, loans, and scholarships—as well as cash payments, 529 payments, third party/sponsored payments, etc.

Box 5 only includes scholarships, grants, exemptions, waivers, and third-party/sponsored payments. Refer to IRS Publication 970 for further information.

The 1098-T’s sole purpose is to help students and families determine if they qualify for educational tax credits. It is not to “report scholarships to the IRS.” That is the student’s responsibility. Regarding taxability, the University is not allowed to give tax advice.

While Miami is required to provide the 1098-T, taxpayers are not required to use it.

Due to the University’s closure over winter break, physical payments must be received by a certain date or they would not be posted until January. This was stated on the One Stop’s website. During this period of time, only electronic payments made directly to student accounts could be included on the 1098-T of the reporting year. The University is closed during the winter break, including the University’s post office, and our system does not allow us to backdate payments.

When determining your eligibility for education-related tax credits and deductions, you will need to report the amount you paid for qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE). Your account statements are an accurate source of information for amounts paid, including dates.

As the University cannot provide tax advice, we recommend consulting with a tax professional about additional documentation that you must file on your own behalf. These may be accessed through the student’s online account portal, or requests may be directed to the One Stop. Please note that we are unable to change 1098-Ts unless there is a genuine error or if there is a correction to a SSN/TIN or address.

Access the ECSI EasyPath Student Portal. If you don’t already have one, you will need to create an account.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not require Miami to file the 1098-T for international students who are not U.S. residents for tax purposes. This is because non-resident students are not eligible for education tax benefits. However, because we cannot definitively determine which international students are residents for tax purposes, we provide 1098-T forms to all students for whom any reportable transactions have been made. To determine your eligibility, consult a tax professional or the IRS.