Taxpayer Relief Act

Cerritos College is required to provide an informational return, IRS form 1098-T, to all eligible students at defined by IRS tax code. Sometime after February 1st, you will be sent form 1098-T to alert you to the possibility that you or your parents may be eligible for federal income tax credits that could reduce your 1098 federal income tax liability.

Two tax credits, the Hope Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit, help families reduce out-of-pocket expenses for tuition and certain expenses paid to a post secondary institution that participates in the federal student aid programs.

NCSPearson has been contracted to send the 1098-T to you. Although the college has provided this information, the calculation of the tax credit earned should be obtained through IRS Publication 970 and IRS Form 8863 or your personal tax advisor. The IRS phone number is 1-800-829-1040.

Cerritos College cannot provide you with tax advice or assistance related to the credit or how to claim the credit. For assistance, please contact a tax professional or refer to IRS Publication 970. If you have questions, you may call the Cerritos College 1098-T Payments Statement Information line at 562-860-2451 ext. 2211.

View and/or print your TRA-97 1098-T financial data. You will need to enter the Cerritos College School Code: 00116100.

Commonly asked questions concerning your TRA-97 1098-T financial data reported by the school:

Why are the amounts listed on my 1098-T different than the payments made for the year?

The financial data is for payments made during the tax year. Any payments made before January 1st, or after December 31st, will not appear on the 1098-T.
Refunds paid during the tax year for prior year's payments are included in the financial data.
Other non-cash credits (listed under "Grants") made during the tax year for prior or subsequent semesters are included in the financial data.
Parking, health, and CSID fees are not included in the reported data.

Why are amounts listed under "Grants" on my financial data? I did not receive any grants.

Student fee credits other than direct payment by the student are listed here. This will include BOGG credits and waivers, other non-BOGG waivers, and deferments.

Why didn't I receive a 1098-T? I attended classes during the year.

You did not include your social security number on your college application.
You completed less than three units during the tax year.
You did not make any eligible Individual students are responsible for the accuracy of the data payments during the tax year.
All your eligible fees were paid by financial aid.

Your mailing address as recorded in Admissions Records is incorrect. If you made eligible payments during the year, you may view your data at the web site listed above.

Individual students are responsible for the accuracy of the data.

Resource Links:

tra.ncspearson.com/tra/resourcectr.htm Offers links designed to help answer your questions about the Taxpayer Relief Act and the Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning credits.

www.nacubo.org/website/tra97/students.html Students and families interested in finding out more about the new Hope and Lifetime Learning tax credits, and other education-related tax provisions of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 may find the following consumer information pieces useful.

www.irs.ustreas.gov/basic/hot/not97-60.html IRS Notice 97-60: provides guidance on the higher education tax incentives enacted by the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997.

Hope Scholarship and Lifetime Learning Tax Credits informational flyer enclosed with the IRS Form 1098-T mailer.

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