Date: Wed Nov 28 2007 - 12:32:49 EST
Straight from the IRS web:
Form W-9S. You may use Form W-9S, Request for Student's or Borrower's
Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, to obtain the
student's or borrower's name, address, social security number, and
student loan certification to be used when filing Form 1098-E or 1098-T.
Use of Form W-9S is optional; you may collect the information using your
own forms, such as financial aid applications, and procedures. You may
collect the student's or borrower's information on paper or
electronically.
TINs. TINs are used to associate and verify amounts you report to the
IRS with corresponding amounts on tax returns. Therefore, it is
important that you furnish correct names, social security numbers
(SSNs), individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs), or employer
identification numbers (EINs) for recipients on the forms sent to the
IRS.
Requesting a recipient's TIN. If the recipient is a U.S. person
(including a U.S. resident alien), the IRS suggests that you request the
recipient complete Form W-9, Request for Taxpayer Identification Number
and Certification, (or Form W-9S, Request for Student's or Borrower's
Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification, if appropriate). See
the Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 for more information on
how to request a TIN.
If the recipient is a foreign person, the IRS suggests that you
request the recipient complete the appropriate Form W-8. See the
Instructions for the Requester of Forms W-8BEN, W-8ECI, W-8EXP, and
W-8IMY.
U.S. resident aliens who rely on a "saving clause" of a tax treaty are
to complete Form W-9, not Form W-8BEN. See Pub. 515, Withholding of Tax
on Nonresident Aliens and Foreign Entities, and Pub. 519, U.S. Tax Guide
for Aliens.
You may be subject to a penalty for an incorrect or missing TIN on an
information return. See part O on page GEN-12. You are required to
maintain the confidentiality of information obtained on a Form W-9/W-9S
relating to the taxpayer's identity (including SSNs, EINs, and ITINs),
and you may use such information only to comply with the tax laws.
If the recipient does not provide a TIN, leave the box for the
recipient's TIN blank on the Form 1098, 1099, 5498, or W-2G. Only one
recipient TIN can be entered on the form. Backup withholding may apply;
see part N on page GEN-11.
The TIN for individual recipients of information returns is the SSN.
One usually also would have available the "student id" number as a
separate piece of information sent to the 1098-T processor as an
"alternate ID" field, to help locate the 1098-T record. So in short you
sent the student's data with no SSN numbers to the IRS, include a
reference student ID number in a non-SSN field, and send the students
W-9/W-8 requests, and keep copies of delivery confirmation. You can't
force the students to supply their TIN number that I am aware of for
1098-T purposes, but the IRS wants reasonable effort and wants the
financial information for sure. Your processor should be familiar with
the situation as it pertains to reporting the data information to the
IRS.
Kim Wortkoetter
Bursar
CENTRAL OHIO TECHNICAL COLLEGE/
THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY AT NEWARK
Fees & Deposits
Newark, OH
Ph. (740)364-9692
Fx. (740)364-9532
From: bursar-l-bounces@list.mail.virginia.edu
[mailto:bursar-l-bounces@list.mail.virginia.edu] On Behalf Of Jim
Andersen
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 11:32 AM
To: bursar-l@list.mail.virginia.edu
Subject: Re: bursar-l: 1098T and SSN
We are getting ready to test our 1098T process. This is the first year
we are using an outside source (UAS) to do it. We just tried our first
file upload and found that we have 145 students who, for various
reasons, have not given us their SSN so we use 999-999-999. My
understanding is that we can not require students to give us their SSN.
If that is true, we can not send their 1098T information to the IRS
because they want it by SSN. Is there anything is the IRS regulations
on how to handle these people?
I have thought about not sending them a 1098T and if they ask for one
say "you'll have to give us your SSN before we can give you one".
Another idea was to send them a letter now saying that if they want to
get a 1098T they will need to give us their SSN by January 1.
Have any of you found a good solution for this?
Jim Andersen
Assistant Controller
UW Platteville
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