Tax Credits

Hope Scholarship - Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 Provides Tax Credits for Student Tuition

The Hope Scholarship Credit has been expanded by the American Opportunity Tax Credit to allow up to a $2,500 tax credit for the first four years of postsecondary education. The Lifetime Learning Credit allows up to a $2,000 tax credit per tax return for undergraduate, graduate and professional degree courses for eligible students. Both credits may not be claimed for the same student in the same year.

Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses

The IRS definition of qualified tuition and related expenses is tuition and fees required for a student to be enrolled at or attend Georgia Institute of Technology. The following are not qualified tuition and related expenses:

charges and fees for room, board, student insurance, health services, transportation, and similar personal, living, or family expenses
amounts paid for any course or other education involving sports, games, or hobbies unless the course or other education is part of the student's degree program or is taken to acquire or improve job skills.

Specific Instructions for Form 1098-T

As an eligible educational institution Georgia Institute of Technology is required to file Form 1098-T for each student who is enrolled for any semester during the calendar year. For more information about the deduction or credit see About Form 1098-T, Tuition Statement; Form 8863, Education Credits; and the Form 1040 or 1040A instructions.

Box 1. The total amount of payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses. The amount reported is the total amount of payments received less any reimbursements or refunds made during the calendar year that relate to the payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses during the same calendar year. The amount reported is not reduced by scholarships and grants reported in Box 5.
Box 2. Box 2 is reserved.
Box 3. Checked if the reporting method has changed. For 2018, Georgia Tech was required to change reporting method from charges in Box 2 to payments in Box 1.
Box 4. For 2018 Box 4 includes any adjustment made for prior year qualified tuition and related expenses that were reported on a Form 1098-T. This amount may reduce any allowable education credit or deduction claimed for a prior year. See Form 8863, Form 8917, or Publication 970 for more information.
Box 5. Scholarships, grants, fellowships, and third party payments (including military payments) posted to the student's account during the calendar year for the payment of the student's costs of attendance.
Box 6. Adjustments to the amount of scholarships or grants reported for a prior year.
Box 7. If this box is checked, the amount in Box 1 includes payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses for an academic period beginning January - March of the following year.
Box 8. If this box is checked, the student was at least half-time during an academic period that began in the calendar year.
Box 9. If this box is checked, the student was a graduate student for an academic period that began in the calendar year.

For more information, please visit our FAQs section on the 1098-T and the US Government's IRS Web site at: Tax Information for Students or call (800) TAX-1040 or (800) TAX-FORM.

International Students - 1042-S Withholding Requirements

International students receiving scholarship/fellowship funds may be subject to tax withholding on these funds. To determine if this applies to a student, please refer to the Human Resource web site at Foreign National Tax Compliance | Human Resources (gatech.edu).

Foreign national students of Georgia Tech may qualify for a full or partial exemption from federal tax withholding if a tax treaty exists between the U.S .and the foreign national's country of tax residence. The GLACIER tax compliance software will assist with determining eligibility for a tax treaty benefit and provide all of the necessary paperwork. In many cases, this paperwork must be renewed on an annual basis.