Tax Form 1098-T

HPU is required to provide you a Form 1098-T when you are eligible. The form may help you benefit from tax credits that reduce the amount you or your family owe in taxes! For more information, consult your tax preparer, accountant, and/or the IRS resources on education credits. 

While HPU cannot offer assistance, advice, or help with student taxes, we are happy to point you to some helpful resources! 

Review the IRS resource for students here. This site includes helpful information on determining whether your scholarship or grant is tax-free, how to report your first job's income tax, and how to report "gig" income. 

The IRS also provides a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program to help individuals earning $60,000 or less per year (and other eligible individuals) with their tax returns. For more information and to find a VITA site near you, visit the IRS VITA website.  

Check out the Resources section below for more information and assistance. 

Electronic Form 1098-Ts are made available to eligible students to view and print in early January of each year. Students will receive an email to their my.hpu.edu email address when the form is ready.

If an eligible student did not sign up for paperless delivery, their 1098-T will also be mailed to the student on January 31st of each year. The mailing address used will be the address on file for the student as of January 1st. HPU will not mail Form 1098-Ts to students or their designee upon request. Students may retrieve, download, and print their electronic Form 1098-T from their myHPU portal anytime by following the directions below. 

Electronic 1098-t retrieval: 

• For tax years 2020 and later:
  • Please log into the myHPU portal, then click the "Business & Payments" icon in the Student QuickLaunch section. This will open your payment portal. Within the payment portal, select "Tax Forms." Select the 1098-T form you would like to view, download, and/or print for your records. 

• For tax years 2019 and prior:
  • Please log in to the Maximus Federal site to obtain a copy of your Form 1098-T.
  • For help retrieving Form 1098-T for tax years 2019 and earlier, call (800) 223-0043 or visit the Maximus help site.

A 1098-T will generally be prepared for students who made payments towards Qualifying Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE) for classes earning academic credit, or who received a scholarship or grant, between January 1st and December 31st of the tax year.

HPU is not required to prepare a Form 1098-T when: 

• Courses do not earn academic credit, even if the student is otherwise enrolled in a degree program
• Courses for which grades were not earned 
• Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE) are waived entirely, or paid entirely with scholarships or grants 
• Students whose expenses are covered by a formal, third-party billing arrangement 
• Students are non-resident aliens (however, HPU may provide students a Form 1098-T; see the "Information for Non-Resident Aliens" section below for more information)
• Students who made no payments towards QTRE during the tax year 

HPU will provide a Form 1098-T even when a SSN/ITIN is not provided by the student when criteria are otherwise met. 

Not all students will qualify for a Form 1098-T in any given tax year. In general, if the sum of a student's payments from all sources, up to the total billed Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE), is greater than the amount received in scholarships or grants within the tax year, the student will qualify for a 1098-T. 

If you qualify for a Form 1098-T, an electronic Form 1098-T will be available to view and print in early January, and an email notification will be sent letting you know that the form is available. Additionally, if you did not sign up for paperless delivery, your 1098-T will be mailed to the address on file as of the beginning of the year. Paper 1098-Ts are mailed to eligible students on January 31st of each year. All students who are eligible to receive a Form 1098-T are able to view the form online, even if they also elected to have the document mailed to them. 

Not all students will qualify for a Form 1098-T in any given tax year. In general, if the sum of a student's payments from all sources, up to the total billed Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE), is greater than the amount received in scholarships or grants within the tax year, the student will qualify to receive a Form 1098-T. Remember, receiving a Form 1098-T from HPU does not indicate whether or not an educational tax credit may be claimed. 

If you think you should have received a Form 1098-T and did not, please review the relevant FAQ below for more information. 

Not all students will qualify to receive a Form 1098-T in any given tax year. In general, if the sum of a student's payments from all sources, up to the total billed Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE), is greater than the amount received in scholarships or grants within the tax year, the student will qualify for a 1098-T. 

However, HPU is not required to prepare a Form 1098-T under certain circumstances. See the relevant FAQ titled "Who Will Receive a Form 1098-T?" for more information. 

Non-resident aliens who do not have a tax identification number on file with HPU as of the first of the year will not automatically receive a Form 1098-T, even if they otherwise qualify. Please see the FAQ titled "Information for Non-Resident Aliens" for more information. 

Forms are automatically generated for eligible students and will become available electronically within the myHPU portal in early January for the previous tax year. Students will be notified by email when the form is available to view. 

Students who have not opted to go paperless will also receive a copy of their Form 1098-T in the mail. Mailed forms are sent to students January 31st of each year. Keep in mind that students can view, download, and print their Form 1098-T within the myHPU portal anytime; they do not need to wait for the mailed form to be delivered. Please see the FAQ "How do I access my 1098-T?" for more information. 

Student 1098-T tax records are highly sensitive, confidential documents protected under FERPA. Additionally, as records with SSN/ITIN information and sensitive financial details, HPU staff will not email, mail, or otherwise transmit these documents to you or any third party, even with your permission to an authorized individual under FERPA. However, all students who are issued a 1098-T can view, download, and print the form securely anytime from within the myHPU payment portal. 

If you did not select the paperless option, a paper copy of your Form 1098-T will be mailed to the address HPU had on file for you effective December 31st; mail will be dated approximately January 31st. The mailing process is handled securely by HPU's payment processing partner, Transact (Cashnet). HPU does not process the mailings or have access to the paper mailing records. 1098-Ts that are undeliverable, without a valid mailing address, or otherwise returned to HPU by the United States Postal Service will be destroyed by HPU staff upon receipt. Replacement mailings will not be sent. 

If you did select the paperless option, your 1098-T will not be mailed to you.

Under either circumstance, your electronic Form 1098-T is conveniently and securely available to view anytime after its publication within the myHPU portal. Please see the relevant FAQ titled "How Do I Access My 1098-T?" on this page for help accessing your electronic Form 1098-T. 

This information has been summarized from the IRS Form 1098-T and the related IRS instructions. Please visit the IRS website directly for more information.  

Box 1: This box shows the total amount of payments received for Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE) charges from all sources during the calendar year. 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 QTRE charges during the same calendar year. The amount reported is not reduced by scholarships and grants reported in Box 5. 

At HPU, QTRE includes tuition and related expenses required for enrollment, such as mandatory fees. See the FAQ "What is included in QTRE?" for a representative list of included charges. Housing, meal plan, transportation, insurance, and other charges are not reported as QTRE. 

Box 2: Reserved for future use (empty). 

Box 3: Reserved for future use (empty). 

Box 4: This box shows any adjustments made to QTRE for any prior years. This amount may reduce any allowable education credit that you claimed for a prior year.

Box 5: This box shows the amount of scholarships or grants received for QTRE charges. Under IRS definitions, items that you do not recognize as a scholarship or grant may be reported here. This includes payments received from governmental and private entities such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense, civic and religious organizations, and nonprofit entities.

Box 6: This box shows any adjustments made to scholarships or grants received for any prior years. This amount may affect any allowable education credit that you claimed for a prior year.

Box 7: The box is checked if any payments received for QTRE reported for the current tax year relate to an academic period that begins in January through March of the following tax year.

Box 8: The box is checked if the student was at least a half-time student during any academic period in the current tax year. A half-time student is a student enrolled for at least half the full-time academic workload for the course of study the student is pursuing.

Box 9: The box is checked if the student was a graduate student for at least one academic period during the calendar year.. The student is a graduate student if the student was enrolled in a program or programs leading to a graduate-level degree, certificate, or other recognized graduate-level educational credential.

Box 10: This box shows the total amount of reimbursements or refunds of QTRE made by an insurer. HPU does not use this box as HPU does not provide insurance directly through the university.

Box 1 includes the amount of payments from all sources, up to the total of Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses (QTRE) billed, during the calendar year. 

Under IRS definitions, several mandatory fees assessed by HPU to all eligible students do not count towards QTRE (including the Health Services Fee and the Transportation Fee). See below for a listing of commonly-assessed charges that are included and excluded from QTRE. 

*Tuition includes any adjustments to reduce tuition, such as tuition waivers, reduced tuition, and pricing adjustments. 

**Includes fees such as the Global Tech Course Fee, DPT Student Kit Fee, Applied Music Fees, Scientific Diving Fee, Nursing Clinical Fee, Nursing Lab Fee, etc. 

Your payment amount in Box 1 may not total the sum of all payments made according to your records when: 

1. You are counting payments towards semesters in the tax year, not payments made during the tax year. The date of the payment transaction, not the term or semester which is being paid, dictates which year the payment is reported on the 1098-T form. 
2. The total of payments made include payments that are not counted as Qualified Tuition & Related Expenses (QTRE) under IRS definitions and law. For example, you may have made $17,000 in payments during a calendar year, but the amount is reduced by $480 after excluding fees such as the Transportation Fee and the Health Services Fee. In this scenario, Box 1 will report payments equal to $16,520. HPU is following IRS rules when reporting this lower amount. 

Transactions are reported on the Form 1098-T by the payment date, regardless of the year of the semester involved. For example, your Box 5 Scholarships and Grants total may be higher than what you received during that year if a third party sponsor paid any portion of your tuition before January 1st of that year. This is especially common for payments for the Spring semesters, because tuition is assessed and due in December of the preceding calendar year.

HPU contacts students with missing taxpayer identification numbers multiple times throughout the year, requesting that they update their records with the Registrar's Office so that this information can be reported on Form 1098-T. A student's SSN/ITIN must be on file with the university prior to December 31st in order for it to be reported on your Form 1098-T for that tax year. 

However, HPU does generate Form 1098-Ts for students with missing SSN/ITINs when the student otherwise qualifies, unless the student is a non-resident alien. The Form 1098-T will not include the student's SSN/ITIN if the student did not provide this information as requested. You can still access your electronic Form 1098-T online through the myHPU portal, and will receive one in the mail if you did not elect the paperless option. Forms will not be reprinted or updated when students fail to provide their SSN/ITIN as instructed. 

To update your SSN or ITIN in HPU's records for future tax years, complete the Change of Student Information Form. The form and instructions are available on the Registrar's website. 

Forms 1098-T are generated with the student's information on file with the university as of December 31st. 

If any of the personal information displayed on your Form 1098-T is incorrect, you must update this information yourself following instructions on the Registrar's Office website. 

If your SSN/ITIN or legal name printed on the 1098-T does not match the SSN/ITIN or legal name assigned to you as of December 31st of the tax year, after updating the information with the Registrar's Office, you may request an updated copy of your 1098-T in writing. Please email the Business Office Accounts Receivable team at ar@hpu.edu from your myHPU email address with the subject line: "Updated Legal Info 1098-T Tax Form Request." In the body of the email, include the HPU student ID (beginning with an "@" symbol) and request the form. Requests must be received in writing and will not be taken in-person. Requests made after March 1st of each year may not meet the IRS' reporting deadline. Allow 3-4 weeks for a response. 

If your address is incorrect, HPU will not create a new form. You may use the existing form to claim your tax benefits, if eligible. However, please update your mailing address in MyHPU to prevent future errors. 

If all of your payments were made online in the myHPU payment portal, view the "Transactions" tab to see your payment history. 

If your payments were a combination of mailed/in-person checks, cash, etc. and electronic payments made online in the myHPU portal, or only cash/check payments, then you'll need to review the "Activity Details" tab in the myHPU payment portal to view all payments made. 

Per IRS guidance, GI Bill® benefits do not count as payments towards qualified tuition and related expenses. 

The IRS does not require HPU to prepare a Form 1098-T for foreign students who are not US residents for tax purposes, because non-resident aliens are not eligible to receive education credits. However, the IRS does require HPU to provide 1098-T forms to any non-resident alien student who requests one, and HPU is not able to definitively ascertain whether a foreign student with a tax identification number on file with the university is a non-resident alien for tax purposes. 

For these reasons, beginning with tax year 2021 (forms issued January 2022), HPU non-resident alien students who otherwise qualify to receive a Form 1098-T and who have a tax identification number on file with the university will receive a Form 1098-T without having to request one. In other words, foreign students who may or may not be eligible for an education credit will automatically receive a Form 1098-T if their tax identification number has been provided to HPU. 

Non-resident alien students without a tax identification number on file who wish to receive a Form 1098-T must first update HPU's records with the Registrar's Office using the Change of Student Information Form. Once this form has been processed by the Registrar's Office, the student must then email the Business Office Accounts Receivable team at ar@hpu.edu from their myHPU email address with the subject line: "Non-Resident Alien 1098-T Tax Form Request." In the body of the email, include the HPU student ID (beginning with an "@" symbol) and request the form. Requests must be received in writing and will not be taken in-person. Requests made after March 1st of each year may not meet the IRS' reporting deadline. Allow 3-4 weeks for processing. 

 If you remained opted-in to the HPU Shark Bundle Course Materials program (first offered in Fall 2021), then Box 1 will include payments made up to qualified tuition and related expenses (QTRE), including the Shark Bundle Course Materials Fee. For more information about what is and isn't considered QTRE, see the related FAQ on this page. 

Other than the Shark Bundle Course Materials fee, HPU does not report your expenditures on books or supplies. 

As instructed by the IRS, HPU has not included Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act)emergency grant funding or Higher Education Emergency Relief (HEERF) funds received related to the COVID-19 pandemic as scholarships and grants in Box 5 of Form 1098-T. HPU has included payments, including payments made with emergency financial aid grant funds, up to QTRE in Box 1.

Payments are reported on Form 1098-T by the date and time associated with the payment receipt posting to your account. 

HPU will not alter these records to move payment receipts to a different date based upon a request. From time to time, payments do have to be re-posted, such as when a payment is returned due to a credit card decline or returned payment. In these cases, when the payment is reposted in a different calendar year after a 1098-T is generated, it will be included as a prior year adjustment in the subsequent 1098-T form. 

HPU will re-issue a 1098-T (or issue if not previously issued) under the following circumstances, when a student follows instructions to request the replacement in writing: 

• When a student's displayed legal name or SSN/ITIN erroneously does not match their legal name or issued ITIN for the tax year as of December 31st
• When a non-resident alien without a taxpayer identification number on file requests a 1098-T, as required by the IRS, and a 1098-T was not previously issued for that calendar year 
• In the rare instance that there is a calculation error in the amounts reported on the 1098-T form that has been reviewed by the Director of Student Accounts or their designee 

HPU will not re-issue a 1098-T under the following circumstances: 

• When a student's mailing address is incorrect on the form (the student can use the current form for their information reporting and update their address for future years' 1098-T generation)
• When a student's SSN/ITIN is missing, and the student did not provide the information to HPU (the student can use the current form for their information reporting and update their SSN/ITIN for future years' 1098-T generation)
• When a student's legal name or SSN/ITIN changed or was updated after December 31st of the reporting year  
• When a student or tax preparer disagrees with the amounts calculated, and those amounts were correctly derived by HPU in accordance with IRS guidelines and best practices 
• When a student lost their 1098-T form or never received their form in the mail (students may download and print a replacement form from within the myHPU portal anytime) 

IMPORTANT: See the relevant FAQ for your situation on this page for instructions on how to request a re-issued 1098-T form. Requests made after March 1st may not be completed by the IRS tax deadline. Allow 3-4 weeks for an initial response. 

Like most universities, HPU's Form 1098-T calculations are generated using robust system processing rules that account for when each payment was posted, assigning each tuition and fee charge as included or excluded from QTRE. Calculations are not made manually by HPU staff, and HPU will not reproduce 1098-T calculations manually upon request due to the volume of inquiries handled by HPU offices.

However, when there is clear, substantiated evidence of an error provided by the student to the university in writing, the request will be reviewed and a correction issued if warranted and approved by the Director of Student Accounts or their designee. 

For additional guidance and instructions on this topic, see the FAQ titled "I think my 1098-T amounts are incorrect. What should I do?". Requests must follow the format included in this FAQ to be reviewed.  

First, please review the FAQ titled "What is included in QTRE? (Box 1)" and related sections of this page to understand how HPU calculates the amounts shown in each section of the document. 

Note that like most universities, HPU's Form 1098-T calculations are generated using robust system processing rules that account for when each payment was posted, assigning each tuition and fee charge as included or excluded from QTRE. Calculations are not made manually by HPU staff. 

Then, double check: 

• Were any fees you paid and expected to be counted this year reported on a prior year's form?
  • Fees reported on a prior year's tax form may not be reported on a subsequent year's Form 1098-T. 
• Were any payments that you expected to be counted this year actually made in a different year, such as before January 1st or after December 31st?
  • Amounts paid are reported on the 1098-T form on the date the payment posted, not the date that the charge was posted. For example, a charge for Spring 2023 that is posted to your eBill Statement in December 2022 would be included on your 2022 Form 1098-T if the payment posted to your myHPU account by 12/31/2022. However, if the payment is posted to your account after 1/1/2023, it would be included on your 2023 form. There can be a delay between when some payments are initiated and when they are posted, such as for Flywire payments, mailed payments, or returned payments. 
• Have your payments exceeded the amount of QTRE you were billed?
  • Payments are reported only up to the total of QTRE charged. 
• According to the IRS, the maximum annual credit limits of the Lifetime Learning Credit is $2,000 and the American Opportunity Tax Credit is $2,500. Any discrepancy in Box 1 exceeding this maximum amount will not result in a change to the education credit that can be earned per student. While HPU will review any request that meets the below criteria and will ensure university and IRS records are correct regardless of the amount, it may be worth considering the benefit to you before compiling the necessary documentation if the credit will not be claimable. 

Once you have reviewed the above, please proceed by reviewing your Activity Details within the myHPU portal (Student Services, then Business & Payments, then Activity Details) as well as your bank records. Review IRS Publication 970 for each payment you are calculating to ensure it qualifies as QTRE under IRS code. 

If you still believe there was an error, please contact the HPU Business Office's Accounts Receivable team by emailing ar@hpu.edu with a detailed description of the issue, including the information listed below. While you are welcome to discuss your 1098-T questions in person at the Student Services Center during business hours, HPU staff will not be able to conduct detailed audits of 1098-T reporting in person and will not provide tax advice. Requests for reviewing 1098-T calculations must be made in writing. Allow up to 3-4 weeks for a response. Requests made after March 1st may not be completed by the IRS tax reporting deadline. 

Include the following: 

• Subject Line: "1098-T Calculation Review Request" 
• Your student ID, beginning with an "@" symbol
• A detailed description of the payment(s) or transactions of concern.
• For each, include a line item description, payment or transaction date, and corroborating backup documents such as a bank statement details, cleared check images obtained from your bank, and the myHPU Activity Details summary with any discrepancy clearly noted and explained. 

Hawai‘i Pacific University requires your correct identifying number to file certain information returns with the IRS and to furnish a correct and complete 1098-T statement to you.

For students, the identifying number will be your Social Security number (SSN) or, if you are not eligible to obtain an SSN, your individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).

Failure to provide your correct identifying number could result in a penalty from the IRS imposed on each incorrect document.

Failure to provide the correct identifying information by the deadline each year (usually early December) will result a missing identifying number on your IRS Form 1098-T (unless you are a non-resident alien, in which case a form will not be automatically generated for you without the required information).

Dual-Enrolled High School Students: HPU is required to request this information from any student earning academic credit at the institution, including students enrolled in high-school dual enrollment programs, even if they are a minor student under 18 years of age.

 
Search for official forms, instructions, publications, and other guidance; search terms relevant to this topic are "Publication 970," "Education Credits," "Form 8863", and "1098-T." 

https://www.irs.gov/ 

Free tax return preparation for qualifying taxpayers: 

https://www.irs.gov/individuals/free-tax-return-preparation-for-qualifying-taxpayers

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