Methodist College Sending Out Corrected 1098-T Forms

Methodist College sent out 2017 1098-T forms to students on January 29, 2018. The 1098-T form is used to determine whether students qualify for certain education related tax credits. The IRS allows schools to report student expenses by either disclosing payments received (Box 1 on the form) or amounts billed (Box 2 on the form). The IRS had announced that beginning with the 2017 tax year, schools would have to report using the Box 1 information, rather than Box 2 information which is what Methodist College had done prior to the 2017 tax year. The IRS later announced that the requirement would be postponed until the 2018 tax year.

In anticipation of the upcoming changes, Methodist College chose to use the Box 1 option for the 2017 tax year, and that was implemented with the 1098-T forms that went out at the end of January 2018.

However, it has been determined that the results calculated by the third-party software used to complete the 1098-T forms were incorrect.  Despite the College’s best efforts to work with the vendor to resolve the issues that were uncovered, we have made a decision at this time to revert to the software vendor’s Box 2 reporting method that we are confident worked for the prior 2016 Tax year.

Methodist College will be issuing corrected 1098-T forms by close of business on Friday, February 16, 2018.  These forms will report amounts billed in Box 2.  In addition, the College will provide each student a statement of their account for the 2017 tax year to assist with tax preparation to document each student’s amounts paid.  The College will also provide a copy of your Fall 2016 account in the event you were an Illinois MAP Grant recipient.

Students are asked to use the corrected form when preparing their 2017 income tax return. The top of the form will have the “Corrected” box checked. If you have already filed your 2017 return, we suggest you re-calculate your tax return with the Box 2 amount and the supporting documents that will be sent to you.   

If you filed your tax return before February 13, 2018 and you must now file an amended tax return because of the corrected 1098-T, Methodist College will cover the cost of preparing your amended return. Please provide a receipt of your additional cost incurred and proof that the change on the corrected 1098-T is the only change to your return.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause you. Questions regarding this issue may be directed to Linda McClain, Bursar at mcbursar@methodistcol.edu.