Who must file.   File Form 1098-E if you are a financial institution, governmental unit (or any of its subsidiary agencies), educational institution, or any other person who receives student loan interest of $600 or more from an individual during the year in the course of your trade or business.

  If more than one person has a connection with the loan, only the first person to receive the interest payment must file Form 1098-E. For example, a loan service or collection agent receiving payments on behalf of the lender must file.

Qualified student loan.   To be reportable for 2003, a student loan must be either:

Revolving accounts.   Report interest paid on revolving accounts, such as credit card accounts, only if the borrower certifies that all the loan proceeds are solely used to pay qualified higher education expenses. You do not have to verify the borrower's actual use of the funds. Do not report interest on mixed use loans.

Loans under qualified plans.   Do not report interest on loans made under a qualified employer plan, as defined in section 72(p)(4), or under a contract purchased under a qualified employer plan within the meaning of section 72(p)(5).

Additional information.   For more information about reporting student loan interest, see Regulations section 1.6050S-3.

Statements to borrowers.   If you are required to file Form 1098-E, you must provide a statement or acceptable substitute, on paper or electronically, to the borrower. For more information about the requirements to furnish a statement to the borrower, see part H in the 2003 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Recipient's/lender's name, address, and telephone number box.   Enter the name, address, and telephone number of the filer of Form 1098-E. Use this same name and address on Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns.

Enter the interest you received on a student loan(s) during the calendar year. For loans made before January 1, 2004, you are not required to, but you may, include loan origination fees and/or capitalized interest in box 1 as described in Proposed Regulations section 1.221-1(h)(2).

Check this box if loan origination fees and/or capitalized interest are reported in box 1.

Exceptions.   You do not have to file Form 1098-T or furnish a statement for:

Who must file.   You must file Form 1098-T if you are an eligible educational institution. An eligible educational institution that is a governmental unit, or an agency or instrumentality of a governmental unit, is subject to the reporting requirements of Form 1098-T. A designated officer or employee of the governmental entity must satisfy the reporting requirements of Form 1098-T.

  Eligible educational institutions may choose to report payments received, or amounts billed, for qualified tuition and related expenses. The institution must use the same reporting method for all calendar years unless the IRS grants permission to change the reporting method.

  If another person receives or collects payments of qualified tuition and related expenses on your behalf, the other person must file Form 1098-T. However, if the other person does not possess the information necessary to comply with the reporting requirements of Form 1098-T, then you must satisfy the reporting requirements of Form 1098-T.

  Also, if you are an insurer engaged in a trade or business of making refunds or reimbursements of qualified tuition and related expenses, you are required to file Form 1098-T (see box 7 on page ET-3).

Eligible educational institution.   An eligible educational institution is a college, university, vocational school, or other post-secondary educational institution that is described in section 481 of the Higher Education Act of 1965; and that is eligible to participate in the Department of Education's student aid programs. This includes most accredited public, nonprofit, and private post-secondary institutions.

Qualified tuition and related expenses.   Qualified tuition and related expenses are tuition and fees a student must pay to be enrolled at or attend an eligible educational institution. The following are not qualified tuition and related expenses:

Academic credit.   Academic credit is credit awarded by an eligible educational institution for the completion of course work leading to a post-secondary degree, certificate, or other recognized post-secondary educational credential.

Example.   Student A, a medical doctor, takes a course at University X's medical school. Student A takes the course to fulfill State Y's licensing requirement that medical doctors attend continuing medical education courses each year. Student A is not enrolled in a degree program at University X and takes the medical course through University X's continuing professional education program. University X does not award Student A credit toward a post-secondary degree on an academic transcript for the completion of the course but gives Student A a certificate of attendance upon completion. University X is not required to file Form 1098-T for the course taken by Student A.

Academic period.   You must file Form 1098-T for each student who is enrolled in your institution for any academic period (e.g., semester, trimester, or quarter) in 2003. Determine your enrollment for each period under your own rules or use one of the following dates:

Additional information.   For more information about reporting on Form 1098-T, see Regulations section 1.6050S-1.

Statements to students.   If you are required to file Form 1098-T, you must provide a statement or acceptable substitute, on paper or electronically, to the student. For more information about the requirements to furnish a statement to each student, see part H in the 2003 General Instructions for Forms 1099, 1098, 5498, and W-2G.

Student's address.   In the student's address box of Form 1098-T, enter the student's permanent address. That is, enter the student's home or other long-term address where he or she can receive forwarded mail. You may use a temporary address only if you do not know the permanent address.

Information contact and service provider.   You must provide your name, address, and telephone number. In addition, you may include information on a third party service provider who filed the form or who may answer questions about the statement. Enter the service provider's information in the blank box below the student's address; abbreviate the name and address as necessary to fit in the box.

If you use this method of reporting, enter the amount of payments received for qualified tuition and related expenses from any source 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 the same calendar year.

If you use this method of reporting, enter the amounts billed during the calendar year for qualified tuition and related expenses. The amount reported is the total amount billed less any reductions in charges made during the calendar year that relate to the amounts billed for the same calendar year.

Enter the total amount of any scholarships or grants that you administered and processed during the calendar year for the payment of the student's costs of attendance. However, see Exceptions on page ET-2.

Enter the amount of any reduction to the amount of scholarships or grants that were reported for a prior year.

Check the box if any payments received, or amounts billed, for qualified tuition and related expenses reported for 2003 relate to an academic period that begins in January through March
of 2004.

If you are an insurer, enter the total amount of reimbursements or refunds of qualified tuition and related expenses that you made for the student during 2003.

Check this box if the student was at least a half-time student during any academic period that began in 2003. A half-time student is a student enrolled for at least half the full-time academic work load for the course of study the student is pursuing. Your institution's standard for a half-time student work load must equal or exceed the standards established by the Department of Education under the Higher Education Act and set forth in 34 C.F.R. section 674.2(b).

Check this box if the student was a graduate student. The student is a graduate student if the student was enrolled in a program or programs leading to a graduate-level degree, graduate-level certificate, or other recognized graduate-level educational credential.