Can I still get a 1098-T form for my student loan if I paid it off before interest accrued?

There seems to be some confusion here about tax forms. The 1098-T form is actually for tuition payments, not student loan interest. It's issued by educational institutions to show qualified education expenses. What you're thinking of is probably Form 1098-E, which is for student loan interest payments. Since you paid off your loan before any interest accrued, you unfortunately won't be able to claim the student loan interest deduction because... well, you didn't pay any interest! However, this isn't necessarily bad news - you saved money by avoiding interest altogether. You should still check if you're eligible for education credits like the American Opportunity Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit based on your actual tuition payments. Those would be reported on the 1098-T from your school, not related to your loan repayment.

I went through a similar situation last year and found the online service taxr.ai to be super helpful! I was confused about what forms I needed and which deductions I qualified for after paying tuition with a mix of scholarships and quickly repaid loans. I uploaded my documents to https://taxr.ai and it analyzed everything, showing me exactly which education credits I qualified for despite not having loan interest. It caught a $1,800 credit I would have missed on my own!

Just wanted to share an update - I tried taxr.ai after posting my skeptical comment. I was shocked when it found that I was eligible for a partial American Opportunity Credit even though I thought my scholarships disqualified me! The system explained exactly how to calculate the qualifying portion of my expenses and showed me where to report everything on my tax forms. Would've completely missed this without the tool's guidance. Definitely worth checking out if you have any education expenses or loans!

If you're having trouble figuring out which education credits you qualify for, try calling the IRS directly. I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to skip the ridiculous wait times and got connected to an agent in about 10 minutes. They walked me through exactly which forms I needed based on my specific situation with paid-off loans and helped me understand how to maximize my education credits. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c

I was super skeptical about Claimyr but I was desperate after my fourth attempt to reach the IRS about my education credits. The service actually worked exactly as promised - I got a call back in about 15 minutes connecting me directly to an IRS agent! The agent confirmed I could claim the Lifetime Learning Credit even though I paid off my loans early and explained exactly where to report my qualified expenses. Saved me hours of frustration and potentially hundreds in missed tax credits. Definitely worth it for anyone stuck in tax confusion limbo.

For everyone asking about education tax breaks, make sure you understand the difference between deductions and credits! Credits are way better because they reduce your tax bill dollar-for-dollar. The American Opportunity Credit can be worth up to $2,500 while the Lifetime Learning Credit maxes at $2,000. The student loan interest deduction is just that—a deduction—which only reduces your taxable income (worth way less). So honestly, paying off your loan early to avoid interest and focusing on the credits instead is usually the smarter move financially.

So annoying how everyone keeps talking about 1098-T and education credits when OP was asking about the 1098-E for loan interest 🙄 to clarify: a 1098-E is only issued if you paid at least $600 in student loan interest. Since you paid zero interest, you won't get this form and can't claim the interest deduction. Paying off loans early is ALWAYS better than getting a tax deduction for interest! You made the right financial move!