Stipend Taxes

General Discussion for SMART Scholarship Recipients
guest888

Stipend Taxes

Post by guest888 »

Did anyone file the stipend taxes online?
If so, what did you use?
Was it free?
Can you do all your taxes there?

Thanks!

littlehope
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:23 pm
Contact:

Re: Stipend Taxes

Post by littlehope »

Unfortunately you are not able to file online for free due to the 1099-MISC form since it is the “self-employed” form. Even if you aren’t claiming it as self employment income you still need to fill out your return with the 1099-MISC form, thus you have to pay for the “self-employed” version of service from the software.

TurboTax: (self-employed, includes 1099-MISC)
$39.99 for state
$119.99 for federal

H&R Block: (self-employed, includes 1099-MISC)
$36.99 for state
$74.99 for federal

TaxAct: (freelancer, includes 1099-MISC)
$37 for state
$59.95 for federal

I am married and my spouse gets a 1099-MISC as well and used TaxAct last year. It does a good estimate and is fairly simple to follow. This year I used a CPA and they saved me ~$300 more than what I could do myself on TaxAct and the charge was also ~$300. So I went ahead and filed with the CPA since they put in the time to try and I’d rather pay the $300 to them than my taxes :lol: if you guys think your taxes are bad try having two 1099-MISC, four W2s, capital gains, investments, and 1089-T school forms, etc. This is what happens when two workaholics get married.

guessing

Re: Stipend Taxes

Post by guessing »

littlehope wrote:Unfortunately you are not able to file online for free due to the 1099-MISC form since it is the “self-employed” form. Even if you aren’t claiming it as self employment income you still need to fill out your return with the 1099-MISC form, thus you have to pay for the “self-employed” version of service from the software.

TurboTax: (self-employed, includes 1099-MISC)
$39.99 for state
$119.99 for federal

H&R Block: (self-employed, includes 1099-MISC)
$36.99 for state
$74.99 for federal

TaxAct: (freelancer, includes 1099-MISC)
$37 for state
$59.95 for federal

I am married and my spouse gets a 1099-MISC as well and used TaxAct last year. It does a good estimate and is fairly simple to follow. This year I used a CPA and they saved me ~$300 more than what I could do myself on TaxAct and the charge was also ~$300. So I went ahead and filed with the CPA since they put in the time to try and I’d rather pay the $300 to them than my taxes :lol: if you guys think your taxes are bad try having two 1099-MISC, four W2s, capital gains, investments, and 1089-T school forms, etc. This is what happens when two workaholics get married.
My wife and I are in the exact same situation with everything you listed and did the exact same thing-haha. Yeah, it sucks and I feel for you. I took detailed notes though on what my CPA did and I think I'll try to do it myself next year-we'll see.

littlehope
Posts: 96
Joined: Wed Feb 01, 2017 9:23 pm
Contact:

Re: Stipend Taxes

Post by littlehope »

guessing wrote: My wife and I are in the exact same situation with everything you listed and did the exact same thing-haha. Yeah, it sucks and I feel for you. I took detailed notes though on what my CPA did and I think I'll try to do it myself next year-we'll see.
Same here. I didn’t know you didn’t have to pay federal taxes on the previous year’s state taxes for some states! But after this I feel perfectly capable of being my own accountant in the future.

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