Is my university required to issue a 1098-T tax form when charges were minimal?

Yes, there is actually a minimum threshold. Educational institutions aren't required to provide Form 1098-T if the total payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses are less than $600 for the year. This is an IRS rule, not your university being difficult. That being said, you can still claim eligible education expenses on your tax return even without receiving a 1098-T. You'll just need to have records of what you paid (like receipts or account statements from your university portal). The American Opportunity Credit and Lifetime Learning Credit don't technically require a 1098-T to be claimed - they require that you have eligible expenses that you can document.

I went through something similar last year with my community college classes! Spent hours trying to figure out why I didn't get my 1098-T until I discovered there's this $600 minimum rule. I ended up using taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to help sort it out. They have this document analysis feature that reviews your education expenses even without the official form. I uploaded my payment receipts and transcript, and it identified exactly which expenses qualified for education credits. Super helpful because I was totally confused about what I could claim without the official form. The tool even helped determine which education credit would give me the better benefit between American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai - I ended up trying it for my situation (also had no 1098-T but paid about $890 for continuing education classes). The document analyzer correctly identified which of my expenses qualified for the Lifetime Learning Credit even without the official form. What really surprised me was how it flagged certain course materials that I hadn't realized were tax-deductible! Ended up getting an extra $180 back on my refund that I would have missed otherwise. Definitely recommended if you're missing tax documents or unsure about education expenses.

If you're still having trouble with the university's financial aid office, you might want to try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I used them last year when I had a similar issue but needed to speak directly with the IRS about education credits. They got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 15 minutes when I had been trying for days! There's a demo video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was originally told my courses didn't qualify for education credits, but after speaking with the IRS agent, I found out they absolutely did qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit. The agent walked me through exactly what documentation I needed to keep in case of an audit. Saved me from missing out on a significant tax credit!

OK I need to eat my words here. After my skeptical comment I decided to try Claimyr myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS about my education credits for over a week with no luck. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 17 minutes when I had previously been disconnected after waiting 2+ hours. The agent confirmed that I CAN claim my continuing education expenses even without a 1098-T as long as I have payment records. She also explained that the $600 threshold is for the SCHOOL'S reporting requirement, not my ability to claim the credit. Definitely worth it for the peace of mind before filing. The agent even gave me her ID number to reference if there were any questions about my education credits later.

Just FYI - you can request a 1098-T from your university even if they aren't required to send one automatically. I did this a couple years ago when I took just one summer class. The bursar's office had to generate it manually but they did provide it. Might be worth asking!

Does anyone know if this $600 rule applies to 1098-E student loan interest forms too? I paid about $450 in interest last year and haven't received anything from my loan servicer.

This is really helpful information! I had no idea about the $600 threshold rule. I'm in a similar situation - took two online courses last semester totaling around $480 and was wondering why I hadn't received my 1098-T yet. My tax software kept asking for it and I was getting worried I was missing something important. Good to know I can still claim the Lifetime Learning Credit with just my payment receipts. I have all my transactions saved from my student account portal, so I should be all set. Thanks for posting this question - probably saved me a lot of stress and confusion!