IRS Form 1098-T Tax Form Information

General Information About the 1098-T Form

If you are a US resident for tax purposes, you may be eligible to claim a tax credit or deduction on your federal tax return if you paid qualified educational expenses to the University of California. The American Opportunity Credit, the Lifetime Learning Credit, and the Tuition and Fees Deduction allow taxpayers to reduce their federal income tax based upon qualified tuition and fees paid, assuming the taxpayer meets eligibility requirements.

The determination as to whether you qualify for these benefits should be made in consultation with your personal tax advisor or the Internal Revenue Service.

The University of California cannot give you tax advice or decide as to whether you qualify for these tax benefits.

The 1098-T form is used by eligible educational institutions to report information about their US resident students to the IRS as required by law. As an eligible educational institution, UC Berkeley reports certain financial and identifying information regarding US resident students for which UC Berkeley has received payments of "qualified education expenses" for the corresponding tax year. Included in the 1098-T form are qualified charges that were paid and financial assistance received for the corresponding tax year. Loans are excluded and not reported on the 1098-T form.

In general, if you are a degree candidate (undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in a degree program at UC Berkeley) the portion of your fellowship used to pay for tuition, fees, and related required course expenses (required of all students) is excludable from your gross income (not considered taxable). For more information on tax free fellowships, please refer to the Tax Free Scholarship and Fellowship Grants section of IRS Publication 970. Some fellowships are considered taxable. If your fellowship is nonexcludable (not used to pay for tuition, fees, and related required course expenses), your fellowship may be considered taxable. Please keep in mind that U.S. citizens and residents for tax purposes (permanent resident, refugee, or asylee) do not have Federal or State taxes withheld from their nonexcludable fellowship payments from the university. And, the university is not required to report this income to Federal and State tax agencies. The university also does not issue a W-2 equivalent to students for reporting nonexcludable fellowship income (though it is reported on your 1098-T Form). If you are a U.S. citizen or resident for tax purposes, you may be required to make estimated quarterly tax payments directly to the IRS or California Franchise Tax Board on your graduate fellowship payments.

Please use Worksheet 1-1 of IRS Publication 970 (Tax Benefits for Education) to figure the amount of a scholarship or fellowship grant you can exclude from gross income.

To simplify reporting and to promote the best customer service for students and their families, the University of California contracts with TAB Services to provide the 1098-T form. For more information, please visit the TAB Services website or call TAB Services Customer Support toll-free at (888) 220-2540.