Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE income)

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Expand view Topic review: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE income)

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE income)

by human234895 » Sun Apr 18, 2021 10:32 am

clobber wrote:
Sat Apr 17, 2021 11:05 pm
Two questions as I'm trying to finalize how this will look.

1) Does the 1099-MISC issued by SMART include the tuition payment made to the school?
No, it does not. You should be able to go back through bank statements for tax year 2020 and add up your stipends and allowances to the exact amount in your 1099-MISC Box 3 from SMART.
clobber wrote:
Sat Apr 17, 2021 11:05 pm
2) Does the 1098-T issued by the university included the SMART tuition payment in Box 5? According to the 1098-T instructions I think it should be, but I'm reading conflicting information on if it actually is included. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1098et
Yes, it absolutely should. Similar to above, you should be able to look at your school's finances portal and add up payments from SMART to the exact total that appears in the 1098-T Box 5 (assuming you didn't also receive other scholarships).

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE income)

by clobber » Sat Apr 17, 2021 11:05 pm

Two questions as I'm trying to finalize how this will look.

1) Does the 1099-MISC issued by SMART include the tuition payment made to the school?
2) Does the 1098-T issued by the university included the SMART tuition payment in Box 5? According to the 1098-T instructions I think it should be, but I'm reading conflicting information on if it actually is included. https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1098et

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE income)

by human234895 » Tue Apr 13, 2021 10:05 am

Typical caveat on all this: I'm not a tax pro and I'm not giving tax advice. This is from my experience wrestling with taxes as a scholar and doing my own browsing through the various IRS pubs.

What about kiddie tax? From what I can tell, the 1099-Misc Box 3 is counted as unearned income which will be subject to kiddie tax if appropriate. However, since this is a scholarship it should not be on a 1099. As the linked Q&A suggests, this should be reported as a scholarship (or not reported on any form) which would make it "earned income" and not subject to the kiddie tax. Still subject to regular income tax of course.
SMART's description is provided to be as helpful as it can be without getting into the territory of tax advice. This is one case where I don't think they're quite on the mark. 1099-MISC Box 3 is OTHER income, not strictly unearned because that terminology is used in different tax contexts, and there are many types of other income. This one specifically is often referred to as "noncompensatory income" though I don't believe the IRS itself ever uses this language anywhere. It's not quite an "award" but it's income received not in relation to any particular services performed or goods delivered - in our case, it's a stipend and some allowances. This is where many graduate stipends will be filed. Some schools, like mine, consider graduate assistants to be employees and file a W-2 for them. Those are pretty much the only two ways an educational stipend will appear in taxes. So it is not subject to self-employment or the kiddie tax (probably... more below), it is in a category of its own. ALL SMART funds fall under this category, including your initial site visit, the allowances, stipends, and ISPs because all of it is other income and none of it is paid in exchange for goods or services.

From 1099-MISC Box 3 instructions: "The amount shown may be payments received as the beneficiary of a deceased employee, prizes, awards, taxable damages, Indian gaming profits, or other taxable income"

On the matter of kiddie taxes, if you are still being claimed as a dependent, you may want to talk to a financial advisor because the rules start getting a little complicated. If kiddie taxes do apply, you may want to explore filing as an independent. I have been an independent since I started riding through school on scholarships/fellowships so I don't really have experience filing taxes with that money AND being an independent.

On "earned income." With the passage of the recent Graduate Student Savings Act, scholarship/fellowship stipends are "earned income" for the purposes of IRA contribution eligibility. If you file as a dependent, they probably aren't and you may want to consult a tax professional about calculated the income/support cost threshold at which kiddie tax would apply.
$20k tuition and other qualified expenses
$25k stipend
$10k (total) for weekly internship allowance
$2.2k for health and misc allowance
Be careful, "qualified expenses" must be paid out of pocket. SMART pays your tuition and mandatory fees on your behalf so they are NOT a qualified educational expense. From IRS: "You can claim an education credit for qualified education expenses paid by cash, check, credit or debit card or paid with money from a loan." Do not try to file SMART-paid amounts as qualified expenses. Note for AOTC: "For AOTC only, expenses for books, supplies and equipment the student needs for a course of study are included in qualified education expenses even if it is not paid to the school. For example, the cost of a required course book bought from an off-campus bookstore is a qualified education expense."
From Pub 970 and Tax Topic 421
How To Report
How you report any taxable scholarship or fellowship grant income depends on which return you file.

Form 1040 or 1040-SR. If you file Form 1040 or 1040-SR, include the taxable amount in the total on line 1. If the taxable amount was not reported on Form W-2, also enter "SCH" and the taxable amount on the dotted line next to line 1.
As to your last point, this is another place where I saw SMART's terminology conflicts with IRS language. Best I can tell, as far as the IRS is concerned, a "scholarship" is funds provided for making "qualified expenses." Any money from a scholarship not used for such expenses is supposed to be filed as income, though many people don't do this. So even though SMART is a "scholarship" as the word is used in common English, I don't believe SMART scholars should actually have any scholarship funds to report on taxes. Even though it comes from a program that calls itself a scholarship, all of our funds have been filed as 1099-MISC Other Income. It is important to take this definition because that is what SMART has filed with the IRS. Regardless of what may, in fact, be the most correct answer, SMART has filed its paperwork and it would be a very bad idea to try and file otherwise.

To those still looking for a tax solution, I filed my paperwork as-is with Tax Slayer's free option and everything was calculated correctly: no self-employment tax and it allowed my IRA contribution. No matter what solution you wound up using, I strongly suggest making a little spreadsheet, looking at the IRS income tax tables, and calculating an estimate of your tax liability for yourself. If it's off by $10, that's fine. If it's off by $1000, something's wrong.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE income)

by clobber » Tue Apr 13, 2021 8:13 am

human234895 wrote:
Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:24 pm
At the end of the day, SMART has filed a 1099 to the IRS, so it's a 1099. You just need to make sure you file your taxes correctly and don't pay self-employment income.
Agreed that SMART payments are not subject to self-employment tax.

What about kiddie tax? From what I can tell, the 1099-Misc Box 3 is counted as unearned income which will be subject to kiddie tax if appropriate. However, since this is a scholarship it should not be on a 1099. As the linked Q&A suggests, this should be reported as a scholarship (or not reported on any form) which would make it "earned income" and not subject to the kiddie tax. Still subject to regular income tax of course.

For example the numbers for a recruitment scholar doing a full year in phase 1 with a 10 week internship:

$20k tuition and other qualified expenses
$25k stipend
$10k (total) for weekly internship allowance
$2.2k for health and misc allowance
---------------------------------------
$57.2k total scholarship money. $37.2k of that is not going to qualified expenses and will be taxable. IRS Publications 17 and 970 have both changed since the original post of this thread, but the gist is the same and pasted below. It gets reported on line 1 of 1040 (earned income).

From Pub 970 and Tax Topic 421
How To Report
How you report any taxable scholarship or fellowship grant income depends on which return you file.

Form 1040 or 1040-SR. If you file Form 1040 or 1040-SR, include the taxable amount in the total on line 1. If the taxable amount was not reported on Form W-2, also enter "SCH" and the taxable amount on the dotted line next to line 1.

From Pub 17:
Earned income includes salaries, wages, tips, professional fees, and taxable scholarship and fellowship grants.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE income)

by human234895 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:24 pm

It is non-compensatory "other income." Self-employment tax does not apply. You are not self-employed and you are not paid/compensated in proportion to or in exchange for any services performed. The income is most comparable to a stipend paid NOT in exchange for TA/RA services. I personally use Credit Karma Tax because it's free. The correct option is found in the menu for 1099-MISC on a screen where you're asked to describe the source of your income. When you select Other Income, a warning will pop up indicating that self-employment tax will not be applied. I imagine all major tax services should have a comparable option.

I believe the IRS blurb you pulled saying scholarships should not be filed on a 1099-MISC is referring to direct payout scholarships/grants which are usually reported in another section if not used entirely for their declared purpose. For example, if you win a $1000 scholarship from your school, but your parents, another scholarship/funder, etc. have already paid for all your education expenses, the excess funds would be reported in the appropriate section and be counted as taxable income. But NOT in 1099-MISC.

At the end of the day, SMART has filed a 1099 to the IRS, so it's a 1099. You just need to make sure you file your taxes correctly and don't pay self-employment income.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE income)

by talana » Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:21 am

In order to avoid all misunderstandings I'd suggest to look in some of internet forms what is correct. Hope, that it'll help to solve all questions https://pdfliner.com/form_1099_misc :)

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE income)

by jkatty » Sun Feb 21, 2021 11:19 am

In order to avoid all misunderstandings I'd suggest to look in some of internet forms what is correct. Hope, that it'll help to solve all questions

Code: Select all

https://pdfliner.com/form_1099_misc
:)

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by 2zcreek » Wed Feb 20, 2019 2:39 pm

Last year 2017, my 1099-Misc was all in box 7, but this year it's in box 3.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by LostinCyberspace » Tue Dec 18, 2018 10:55 pm

Was/is the Aug-Dec payment due in January or April?

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by AnotherGuest » Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:10 pm

LostinCyberspace wrote:
AnotherGuest wrote:
LostinCyberspace wrote:Since the stipend is not SE income, do you guys pay quarterly taxes on it, or have you just sent the IRS the money at the end of the tax season?
You must pay quarterly taxes on it, unless it's for your first award year (because only the fall is included there). You will get charged interest by the IRS for not paying quarterly.
Okay, I was starting to worry because I only recently found out about quarterly taxes. So what happens during the first award year? Obviously, I have to pay taxes on the stipend so far, but when were you required to pay them?
For the first year, you fill out your tax forms and report the fall semester stipends as appropriate. You will pay taxes on it when you submit that form. Along with that, fill out the estimated tax form to get your quarterly payment estimates. Track as you pay each quarter (I did it online each quarter through the IRS website) so you can report these payments the next time you file your tax returns.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by taxman » Fri Oct 19, 2018 6:24 pm

Confused wrote:Also, how does one pay taxes every quarter?
https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-bu ... ated-taxes

All the info you need, courtesy the IRS.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by Confused » Fri Oct 19, 2018 5:25 pm

Also, how does one pay taxes every quarter?

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by LostinCyberspace » Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:12 pm

AnotherGuest wrote:
LostinCyberspace wrote:Since the stipend is not SE income, do you guys pay quarterly taxes on it, or have you just sent the IRS the money at the end of the tax season?
You must pay quarterly taxes on it, unless it's for your first award year (because only the fall is included there). You will get charged interest by the IRS for not paying quarterly.
Okay, I was starting to worry because I only recently found out about quarterly taxes. So what happens during the first award year? Obviously, I have to pay taxes on the stipend so far, but when were you required to pay them?

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by AnotherGuest » Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:56 pm

LostinCyberspace wrote:Since the stipend is not SE income, do you guys pay quarterly taxes on it, or have you just sent the IRS the money at the end of the tax season?
You must pay quarterly taxes on it, unless it's for your first award year (because only the fall is included there). You will get charged interest by the IRS for not paying quarterly.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by LostinCyberspace » Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:33 pm

Since the stipend is not SE income, do you guys pay quarterly taxes on it, or have you just sent the IRS the money at the end of the tax season?

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by Guest » Wed Oct 10, 2018 11:38 am

I hadn't received my forms last year, by the way. For the last tax period, I tried to file them from the templates I found here, for w-2 form https://fillable-form-w2.pdffiller.com/ and else. But yet, it was rejected for some reason

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by Box3Not7 » Tue Feb 20, 2018 10:54 pm

I filed with Turbotax and it being listed in Box 7 made no difference for me. The form still allows Box 7 income to be marked as "Other income" and it was actually easier this year as Turbotax categorizes it as this automatically if you tell it this money was not in exchange for employment or a service (which SMART makes clear in the handbook). In the past, when it was Box 3, you had to manually mark the income as Other Income in Turbotax by opening the forms.

Filing with the income in Box 7 as Other Income resulted in no more taxes than it has in the past. It was about $4000 for me.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by kbl2017 » Tue Feb 20, 2018 8:08 pm

1099income wrote:I was told if it's reported on a 1099, it's income no matter what. :/
It's always income. You'll pay federal and state taxes - but it isn't self employed income.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by 1099income » Tue Feb 20, 2018 3:52 am

I was told if it's reported on a 1099, it's income no matter what. :/

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by argentum2f » Fri Feb 16, 2018 2:06 pm

This was the fully reply I got from ASEE:
Hello,

Thank you for contacting us.

ASEE made the decision to place all fellowship stipend payments in box 7 based on IRS instructions on identifying the payee relationship, the preparation of the 1099 MISC forms and reporting of various income types, as well as the IRS regulations of handling payments for scholarships, fellowships and other grants. There will be no further advice given in this manner. ASEE cannot provide tax advice so we urge you to seek advice from a tax professional.

Jessalyn

Jessalyn Vermillion, CPA
Controller
American Society for Engineering Education
Inspiring Innovation. Advancing Research. Enhancing Education.
http://www.asee.org

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by CSMajor » Wed Feb 07, 2018 8:54 pm

kbl2017 wrote:I haven't seen my form yet - hasn't shown up yet - but everyone is say theirs was in box 7 this year - which is why we're worried.
Regardless it's other income -.. Other income can be marked in box 7 or box 3. Just make sure you label the attached 1099 correctly when submitting everything.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by kbl2017 » Wed Feb 07, 2018 7:23 pm

I haven't seen my form yet - hasn't shown up yet - but everyone is say theirs was in box 7 this year - which is why we're worried.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by PhdSMART » Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:54 pm

Box3Not7 wrote:I stopped reading this thread 3 sentences in when you said it was shown in Box 7 (Not really, but it sounds more dramatic). For 3 years of Phase 1, my 1099-MISC from smart has always listed the amount in Box 3. I caution anyone from taking tax advice from a public forum, but how I have always done it is list the income from Box 3 as "Other Income." In my experience this is the only way it can be done with programs like Turbotax requesting information about your self-employment or business that does not exist. The link kbl2017 cited from Turbotax gives this same instruction for Box 3 income.

I believe it should have been in Box 3 and previous years it was. As this is my first year I have nothing to base it off of. Regardless, they checked Box 7 on my 1099 for some reason.... Its not dramatic.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by Box3Not7 » Wed Feb 07, 2018 3:43 pm

I stopped reading this thread 3 sentences in when you said it was shown in Box 7 (Not really, but it sounds more dramatic). For 3 years of Phase 1, my 1099-MISC from smart has always listed the amount in Box 3. I caution anyone from taking tax advice from a public forum, but how I have always done it is list the income from Box 3 as "Other Income." In my experience this is the only way it can be done with programs like Turbotax requesting information about your self-employment or business that does not exist. The link kbl2017 cited from Turbotax gives this same instruction for Box 3 income.

Re: Official IRS direction on Fellowship Taxes (NOT SE incom

by kbl2017 » Tue Feb 06, 2018 7:22 pm

Yeah on the support payment being part of the scholarship. Since some people don't receive the stipend but do the same work SMART is able to say it's not in exchange for work and thus still a living stipend. Our paperwork actually said almost the same thing with the NASA USRA internships. Our stipends were in exchange for travel/cost of living in the area we worked for 16 weeks, but they were not in exchange for the internship work.

It is such a mess, but I think with all the info you provided and the crude way of reporting from the Q&A people at least can determine there is a work around for that extra 15% of taxes! Thank you for posting this (and special shout out to the people of reddit who sent me that Q&A link!)

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