Form 1098-E: The Student Loan Interest Statement
Published November 6, 2026
If you paid interest on a qualified student loan during the year, your lender may send you Form 1098-E, Student Loan Interest Statement. The form shows how much interest you paid. It helps you figure the student loan interest deduction on your return. This guide is general information. It is not advice about your return.
Who sends the form
Publication 970 explains the rule. An institution that received interest payments of $600 or more during the year on one or more qualified student loans must send Form 1098-E, or an acceptable substitute, to each borrower. For 2025, Publication 970 says the form had to be sent by February 2, 2026. January 31 fell on a Saturday that year.
Banks and government agencies are common lenders. If you have not received it by that date, contact the lender. Look at the name on the form, and keep it with your tax records.
What the form shows
The form lists the interest you paid during the year. Check your name, your Social Security number, and the interest amount. If the name or number is wrong, contact the lender before you use the form.
Publication 970 also says some amounts may not appear on the form. Interest on certain older loans, and some other loan costs, can be treated differently. If something looks unclear, read Chapter 4 of Publication 970 before you decide how to report it.
What if you did not get a form?
You may still be able to take the deduction. Publication 970 has an example of a borrower who did not receive a Form 1098-E. The lender did not have to send one because the interest was below the reporting amount. That borrower used the account statement from the lender to show the interest paid.
So keep the yearly account statement from your loan. Save the payment records too. They show the amounts you paid, not only the total.
Who can take the deduction
The form is only one piece of the deduction. Publication 970 says you must be legally obligated to make the loan payments. If someone else claims you as a dependent, neither you nor that person may deduct the interest you paid. The deduction also phases out at higher incomes, so check the income table in Publication 970 for your filing status.
Interest is not the same as principal
Each loan payment has two parts. The interest part pays the cost of borrowing. The principal part pays down the amount you borrowed. Publication 970 explains student loan interest as the interest you paid during the year. Only the interest part is deductible. Form 1098-E reports interest, not principal.
If the amount looks wrong
If the interest on the form does not match your own records, contact the lender and ask for a corrected statement. Keep the original form, the corrected copy, and the account statement you used to check the number.
Form 1098-E and Form 1098-T are different
Form 1098-T reports tuition and related education amounts from a school. Form 1098-E reports interest on student loans. Our guide to education credits and Form 1098-T covers the school form. Our guide to the student loan interest deduction covers how the deduction works.
Simple steps
- Wait for the form from your lender, or open your online loan account.
- Check your name, your Social Security number, and the interest amount.
- Keep the statement with your records for the year.
- Read Chapter 4 of Publication 970 before you claim the deduction.
Upload your documents and answer a few simple questions. Your preparer reviews every deduction and credit and lets you know when your return is ready to sign.
Sources: Sources: IRS, Publication 970 (2025), Tax Benefits for Education (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf) This is general information, not advice about your specific return.
