Do I still get a 1098-T tax form if I graduated from college last year?

Thanks for the info! I have a similar situation but my school said they're only sending electronic 1098-Ts now. Can I still access my student portal even after graduating? My login still works but I'm worried they'll deactivate it.

Most universities maintain student portal access for graduates, though the duration varies by school. Some keep it active for 6 months after graduation, while others maintain it for years. If your login still works, you should be able to access your 1098-T when it becomes available. If you're concerned about losing access, I'd recommend contacting your university's registrar or student accounts office. They can tell you exactly how long your portal access will remain active and may offer alternative ways to receive your tax documents if needed.

Does this work if my parents have been claiming me as a dependent? I graduated last May too but my parents usually handle all the tax stuff related to my education expenses.

How secure is this service? I'm always hesitant to upload my tax documents to websites I'm not familiar with. Do they store your forms or information after processing?

If your parents claim you as a dependent, they would be the ones eligible to claim education credits based on your 1098-T, not you. The tool can still help you understand what credits are available, but whoever claims you as a dependent would need to use the information when filing. The service uses bank-level encryption and doesn't store your documents after processing. They explain on their site that they use the document only for the immediate analysis, then it's automatically deleted. I was concerned about that too initially but they have really clear privacy policies.

Wait how does this actually work? Do they just call the university for you or do they somehow have special access to get through faster?

Yeah right, sounds like another way to charge desperate students extra fees. I've never heard of a service that can actually get through university bureaucracy faster than just showing up in person. What did this cost you?

They don't have special access - they just have a system that waits on hold for you. You provide the number you need to call, they put it in their system which dials and waits on hold, then when a real person answers, they call you and connect you. It's basically like having someone else sit on hold instead of you. I totally get the skepticism - I felt the same way initially. I didn't mention cost because it depends on the wait time, but it was worth it for me compared to wasting hours on hold when I needed to be studying for finals. I'm not saying it's magic, just that it saved me from the hold-time frustration.

How did you notice the mistake? I've always just taken the numbers from my 1098-T without questioning them. Now I'm worried I might have missed something on past returns!

I noticed because I keep all my tuition payment receipts and the total on the 1098-T didn't match what I had paid during the calendar year. Box 1 should show payments received during the calendar year, so I added up all my payments from January through December and found a discrepancy of about $3,200. It's actually really common for schools to make mistakes, especially if you pay for spring semester in December or January, since it can cross calendar years. I'd recommend everyone compare their payment records to what's reported on the form. If you find errors, contact your school's bursar office right away to request a corrected form.

Your 1098-T will show both your qualified education expenses (in Box 1) and any scholarships/grants received (in Box 5). For tax credit purposes, you need to subtract your scholarships from your qualified expenses to determine your eligible amount for credits. For example, if your tuition was $8,000 (Box 1) and you received $3,000 in scholarships (Box 5), you would only be able to claim education credits based on the remaining $5,000. Just be aware that if your scholarships exceeded your qualified expenses, you might have to report the excess as taxable income.

This is really helpful advice! I'm actually in the exact same boat - graduated last spring and this will be my first time filing taxes independently. Quick question though - how do I know for sure if my parents are still claiming me as a dependent? We haven't really talked about it and I don't want to accidentally file incorrectly or mess up their taxes. Is there a way to check this before I file, or should I just ask them directly? I definitely don't want to miss out on those education credits if I'm eligible for them!