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The U.S. tax code provides a variety of tax incentives for families who are paying higher education costs or repaying student loans. The resources provided here are designed to assist you in understanding the tax benefits that may be available to you. 

Accessing Your Bristol 1098-T & Supplemental Account

You may access your 1098-T beginning in early January. Your 1098-T will always be available to view or print through Maximus.

To view or print your 1098-T:

  • Visit Maximus (tra.maximus.com). 
  • Log in or create your Maximus profile.
  • You will register and search for your 1098-T by either your Bristol Student ID# or the last 5 digits of your SSN and your first and last name. 

Once your profile is set up, you may access your 1098-T anytime.

Please note: If you access your 1098-T in Maximus you will not be mailed a paper copy. You may print as many copies as you need from Maximus.

Tuition and payment information is available online for all students through myBristol.

Understanding Your 1098-T

Box 1: Payments Received for Qualified Tuition

This box will show payments received towards eligible charges for qualified tuition and related expenses. 

Boxes 2 and 3

These boxes will be blank.

Box 4: Adjustments made for a prior year

Any changes to a prior tax year that resulted in a reduction of payments toward previously reported qualified tuition will be reported in Box 4. For example, if Bristol reports $500 in payments in 2018, but a student retroactively drops a course from 2018 in the 2019 year without fee liability, the dropped value will appear in Box 4. Your tax preparer should be consulted.

Box 5: Scholarships or Grants

Scholarships, grants, third party payments or waivers posted to a student account are reflected here. 

Box 6: Adjustments to Scholarships or Grants for a Prior Year

Similar to Box 4, Box 6 reports adjustments to previously reported scholarships and grants from a prior year. If a scholarship or grant is retroactively revoked, the value of the scholarship or grant will be reported in Box 6. Your tax preparer should be consulted.

Links & Resources

Tax Benefits for Education: Information Center.
W-9S Request for Student's TIN‌.
I.R.S. Publication 970.
How to View your Tuition Payments Statement (1098-T).

1098-T FAQs

Qualified Tuition and Related Expense (QTRE) is tuition and fees required for the enrollment or attendance of a student for courses of instruction at an eligible educational institution.
A 1098-T is a statement of  payments received towards “QTRE” in the preceding tax year.  The 1098-T is provided to assist you in determining if you are eligible for any higher education tax benefits.  
A 1098-T is not issued for noncredit courses. A student must have qualified charges and payments on their account to receive a 1098-T. 
Most students will see two boxes populated on their 1098-T, box 1 and box 5. Some students may have box 4 and box 6 populated as well. All transactions on the 1098-T reflect activity that occurred within a calendar year, regardless of the year or term that the transaction affected.  

The 1098-T does not indicate your eligibility for tax benefits. You may be eligible for certain tax incentives even if you are not issued a 1098-T. You may also not be eligible for a tax incentive even if you receive a 1098-T. 

Your 1098-T will only reflect amounts that were paid to your Bristol student account. Other charges, such as required textbook costs, may be qualified payments but are not reported on the 1098-T because they were not paid to your student account. 

The 1098-T only displays transactions that are posted to a student account within a calendar year, regardless of the year that the transactions affect. For example, your Box 5 value for Scholarships and Grants may be higher than what you actually received in a year if your department or third party payment provider pays your future term tuition in the current year. This often happens when the tuition for the spring semester of next year is calculated in December of the current year, and if the department /3rd party pays that tuition in December of the current year it will appear on the current tax year Form1098-T.  

Your semester bill at Bristol Community College may include health insurance fees, etc., which are not considered qualified expenses under the IRS code. These fees are removed from reporting in Box 1 and can make it appear that less was reported than what you paid. Also, not all fees at the College are reported in Box 1, only those related to tuition and college fees – books, for example, are not included.  

Yes, any student loans may be reported on the 1098-T. For the purposes of tax reporting, if the loan proceeds were credited to the student’s account, then they are assumed to pay QTRE first.  Under the rules, you may assume that all payments received go first toward QTRE, and then to non-qualified expenses. The amount reported in Box 1 should not exceed QTRE charged. 

Yes, per IRS regulations, you will receive a Form 1098-T for only the amount of qualified expenses that have not been refunded.