The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires colleges and universities to report “qualified tuition and fees” on a 1098-T.  1098-T’s must be issued in January of each year for the previous tax/calendar year.  SUNY campuses report charges that were billed for the first time during the calendar/tax year.  This information DOES NOT REFLECT what a student paid during 2008. It reflects a student's billed charges in 2008. Because all SUNY institutions share the same federal tax identification number, these forms are mailed out centrally rather than from each idividual campus. The same information is furnished to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Starting with the 2003 tax year, colleges are required to provide additional financial information on the 1098 forms. The reporting of the additional financial data has created some confusion among our students as to what these amounts represent, and the University at Albany is providing the following clarifying infomation as a service to our students. Please be aware that the responsibility for your individual tax circumstances rests with the taxpayer alone, and the University can not take any responsibility for your interpretation of this information. We urge you to obtain Publication 970 from the IRS to familiarize yourself with the various details of the tax credits.

For a more thorough understanding of the information reported on your 2008 1098-T, see the explanations below:

Box 1	Box 1 remains blank since all SUNY campuses report amounts billed and not payments received.
Box 2	The amount reported in Box 2 is the eligible charges that were assessed to your account during the tax year. Because registration for the spring semester typically can cross the tax year, charges for a spring semester will be included on the 1098 if the registration occurred during that tax year. For example, if you registered for the spring semester in November or December, those charges will be incuded on the form you receive in January. If, on the other hand, you registered for the Spring semester in January, these expenses will be reported in the subsequent year's 1098 that you would receive in January. Please also be aware that the same circumstances apply to registrations at the beginning of the tax year, so in any given year there are potentially registrations for two spring semesters to take into consideration when analyzing the amounts reported in box 2. The amount reported in Box 2 is the total of the following qualified charges (A through D below) plus any additional charges that were assessed for terms prior to Spring 2008:
	A.  Spring 2008 charges that were assessed on and after 12/08/07 for:  Tuition University Fee Athletic Fee Student Activity Fee Comprehensive Service Fee*                      58.65% GSEU Comprehensive Service Fee*           72.91% Graduate Organization Fee
	B.  Summer 2008: Tuition University Fee Summer Service Fee*                                 26.53%
	C.  Fall 2008: Tuition University Fee Athletic Fee Student Activity Fee Comprehensive Service Fee*                      57.06% GSEU Comprehensive Service Fee*           71.02% Graduate Organization Fee
	D.  Spring 2009 charges assessed prior to 12/31/08:  Tuition University Fee Athletic Fee Student Activity Fee Comprehensive Service Fee*                      57.06% GSEU Comprehensive Service Fee*           71.02% Graduate Organization Fee
Box 3	Box 3 remains blank.
Box 4	Spring 2008 charges that were assessed on and after 12/08/07 for:  Tuition University Fee Athletic Fee Student Activity Fee Comprehensive Service Fee*                      58.65% GSEU Comprehensive Service Fee*           72.91% Graduate Organization Fee
Box 5	The total of the grants and scholarships that were applied to your account during the 2008 calendar/tax year appear in Box 5.  This amount includes payments and returns for Spring 2008, Summer 2008, Fall 2008, and Spring 2009 and payments only for terms prior to Spring 2008.  Note:  Some private scholarships do not require reporting, and are therefore, not reflected in this amount.
Box 6	Box 6 reflects the total of grants and scholarships that were returned to the issuing agencies/entities during the 2008 calendar/tax year for terms prior to Spring 2007.
Box 7	If Box 2 includes charges for Spring 2008, Box 7 will be checked.
Box 8	Box 8 remains blank.
Box 9	If you were/are enrolled at least half time for Spring 2008, Summer 2008, Fall 2008, or Spring 2009, Box 8 will be checked.
Box 10	If you were/are a graduate student for Spring 2008, Summer 2008, Fall 2008, or Spring 2009, Box 10 will be checked.
100% of Tuition and University, Athletic, Student Activity and Graduate Organization fees are considered qualified charges, and are therefore, reported in full.  Only the technology component of the Comprehensive Service and GSEU Comprehensive Service fees is a qualified charge.  As such, these fees are reported based on the percentages indicated above.  $13 of the Summer Service Fee is qualified.