Form 1098-T

The 1098-T is a tax form used to assist students and parents in filing for education tax benefits and tax credits such as the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, Hope Scholarship Tax Credit, American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the Above-the-Line Tax Deduction for Qualified Higher Education Expenses. For more information on these credits, see IRS Publication 970 or consult your personal tax advisor.

Obtaining A 1098-T

Form 1098-T is available through Heartland ECSI in late January for the previous calendar year. Students will have an opportunity to sign up for electronic delivery of the form.  Students who do not sign up for electronic delivery by the deadline will have their 1098-T mailed to the local address on file with WMU by January 31.  If no local address is available for a student, the 1098-T form is mailed to the permanent address on file. We encourage students to sign up for electronic delivery to promote sustainability and to allow students quicker access to their form.

Heartland ECSI does not have a 1098-T for my student

There are several reasons why Form 1098-T may not be available.

If the University does not have either a Social Security number (SSN) or an international tax identification number (ITIN) on record for a student, the form is not automatically released. Students may add their SSN or ITIN by submitting Form W-9S to the registrar's office in person, or by mailing to Registrar, Western Michigan University, 1903 W Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI, 49008-5256. Form W-9S is available through the IRS in the forms section. Please allow 7 to 10 business days for the 1098-T to be input and released to ECSI.

WMU does not release a 1098-T without a valid address for the student. Students can update address information in GoWMU. Contact Bronco Express at (269) 387-6000 after adding a valid address to our system to have the 1098-T released to ECSI.

Questions

Please direct questions regarding accessing a 1098-T form to Heartland ECSI at (866) 428-1098. 

Direct all other 1098-T-related questions to Bronco Express by calling (269) 387-6000.

Please note that tax law is extremely complex and constantly changing. Accordingly, we advise staff members not to give tax advice to students or parents. Instead, we advise you to seek professional assistance from a tax adviser.