Can you tell me where, "they make it very clear you are not being compensated for services rendered??"
By implication in handbook section 5.4.7(g) [not an employee of the federal government]: "Such scholars who are not otherwise employed by the Federal Government shall not be considered Federal employees for any other purpose."
And in emails [not employed by US Govt or LMI]: "Please note you are considered an independent contractor, and not self-employed, and were not employed by the United States Government, LMI, nor Scholarship America for the receipt of the payments listed on your Form 1099-MISC."
On the other thread, I mentioned SMART often uses language in-conflict with IRS language. This is yet another case. IMO, the term "contractors" in and of itself implies that compensation is for services received but they immediately go on to say it's not subject to self-employment tax.
Again, my ultimate advice is that scholars simply file their paperwork
EXACTLY as it appears and confirm that they aren't paying self-employment tax by calculating an estimate of their income tax liability.
[quote]Can you tell me where, "they make it very clear you are not being compensated for services rendered??"[/quote]
By implication in handbook section 5.4.7(g) [not an employee of the federal government]: "Such scholars who are not otherwise employed by the Federal Government shall not be considered Federal employees for any other purpose."
And in emails [not employed by US Govt or LMI]: "Please note you are considered an independent contractor, and not self-employed, and were not employed by the United States Government, LMI, nor Scholarship America for the receipt of the payments listed on your Form 1099-MISC."
On the other thread, I mentioned SMART often uses language in-conflict with IRS language. This is yet another case. IMO, the term "contractors" in and of itself implies that compensation is for services received but they immediately go on to say it's not subject to self-employment tax.
Again, my ultimate advice is that scholars simply file their paperwork [b][u]EXACTLY[/u][/b] as it appears and confirm that they aren't paying self-employment tax by calculating an estimate of their income tax liability.