IRS Deadline: February 1, 2027
Form 1098-T reports qualified tuition and related expenses an eligible educational institution billed or received for each student. If your institution files 10 or more information returns in aggregate — 1098-Ts, W-2s, vendor 1099s, everything combined — the IRS requires you to file electronically for tax year 2026, and transmission runs through the IRS IRIS platform. The IRS retired the FIRE system, so IRIS is the only direct-to-IRS channel for filing season 2027.
The 10-return e-file mandate counts every information return type together, not just 1098-Ts. Most institutions clear that threshold with a single semester of tuition statements, which means paper filing is not an available option for tax year 2026.
Getting the process wrong carries real cost. Penalties for late or incorrect information returns run $60 per return if corrected within 30 days of the due date, $130 if corrected after 30 days through August 1, and $340 under the general rule after August 1 or if never corrected — subject to annual caps. Intentional disregard carries a $680 minimum per return with no cap. Penalties on the IRS return and on recipient statements are assessed separately. Filing electronically through TaxFormHero removes the two biggest failure points — mailing delays and manual entry errors — from the process.
Add up every information return your institution files across all form types for the year. At 10 or more combined, electronic filing is required for tax year 2026. Nearly every college and university with more than a few dozen students is already past this line.
Export payment and billing records and reconcile Box 1 (payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses) against your general ledger. Room and board, health fees, and other non-qualified charges do not belong in Box 1. Scholarships and grants go in Box 5, never combined with Box 1.
Run TIN matching on every student record before uploading anything. Missing or mismatched TINs are the most common reason 1098-T batches are rejected, and each rejection restarts your correction clock. Flag students without a TIN on file and request a completed Form W-9S before transmitting that record.
Upload a spreadsheet of student records or key forms manually for small batches. TaxFormHero accepts bulk imports for institutions filing thousands of 1098-Ts and single-form entry for smaller programs, from $1.99 per form with volume pricing down to $0.45 at 1,000+ forms.
Check totals, box amounts, and flagged TIN mismatches line by line before transmitting. Catching a decimal error here takes seconds; catching it after transmission means filing a correction.
Submit the batch through the authorized transmission channel and watch for the IRS acknowledgment — accepted, accepted with errors, or rejected. A status that stays pending beyond a few business days usually signals a TIN or formatting problem worth investigating before the March 31, 2027 deadline.
Students must receive their copy by February 1, 2027, because January 31 falls on a Sunday and the due date moves to the next business day. Furnishing is separate from IRS filing and carries its own penalty if missed. Electronic delivery requires documented student consent; without it, mail a paper copy.
Correct and resubmit rejected forms as soon as the error is identified. A correction filed within 30 days of the due date sits in the lowest penalty tier; the tier rises the longer the correction takes.
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A batch shows rejected after transmission. The most likely cause is a TIN mismatch. Re-run TIN matching on the rejected records and resubmit only the corrected forms.
Box 1 totals do not match the general ledger. Non-qualified charges leaked into the export. Re-run the export filtered strictly to qualified tuition and related expenses.
A student says the 1098-T never arrived. Check the furnishing method first. Electronic delivery requires affirmative consent on file; otherwise a paper copy is required.
A student's SSN changed or was entered incorrectly. File a corrected 1098-T with the updated TIN. TIN corrections are a distinct correction type from amount corrections.
If your institution also issues W-2 forms or 1099-NEC forms, the same e-file account and TIN-validation workflow covers them — and each one counts toward the same 10-return aggregate, so verify your total form count before assuming paper filing is still available.
What is the deadline to efile 1098-T online for tax year 2026?
Students must receive their copy by February 1, 2027, because January 31 falls on a Sunday. The electronic filing deadline with the IRS is March 31, 2027; paper filers file by March 1, 2027 because February 28 falls on a Sunday.
Is efiling 1098-T mandatory for my institution?
Yes, if your institution files 10 or more information returns combined across all form types for the year. The threshold counts every return type together, not just 1098-T.
How much does it cost to efile 1098-T forms?
TaxFormHero prices 1098-T e-filing from $1.99 per form for 1-150 forms, dropping to $0.99 at 151-500, $0.60 at 501-1,000, and $0.45 above 1,000. There is no signup fee and no subscription.
What happens if a 1098-T is filed with the wrong SSN?
File a corrected 1098-T with the accurate TIN rather than a new original. TIN corrections are their own correction category, separate from dollar-amount corrections.
Can students opt out of receiving a paper 1098-T?
Yes, but only with documented affirmative consent to electronic delivery. Without consent, the institution must mail a paper copy.
What penalty applies to a late or incorrect 1098-T?
$60 per return if corrected within 30 days of the due date, $130 if corrected after 30 days through August 1, and $340 under the general rule after August 1 or if not corrected, subject to annual caps. Intentional disregard carries a $680 minimum per return with no cap. Penalties on the IRS return and on recipient statements are assessed separately.
Do scholarships count in Box 1 of the 1098-T?
No. Scholarships and grants are reported in Box 5. Mixing them with Box 1 payments is a common reconciliation error.
The 10-return threshold counts every information return type your institution files that year — payroll W-2s, vendor 1099s, and tuition statements all stack into the same total. Check the combined count before filing season starts, because crossing the threshold makes electronic filing mandatory for every form, including the ones that would have qualified for paper on their own.
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General information, not tax advice. Please don’t type Social Security or tax ID numbers here.