taxes for (commute) support payments

[samk117]

I am one of the lucky people receiving the support payments for living 50+ miles from their site. Is this taxed the same way the main stipend is taxed? I remember reading somewhere on here that the support payments were not taxable (unlike the main stipend). Is this true?

[Guest1234]

I am one of the lucky people receiving the support payments for living 50+ miles from their site. Is this taxed the same way the main stipend is taxed? I remember reading somewhere on here that the support payments were not taxable (unlike the main stipend). Is this true?

This is not true. It is still considered to be the same source of income (since SMART reports it all on a 1099 Misc in the same box). I received that support stipend for my prior internship and paid the same taxes on it as the regular stipends. This is the safest and correct way to report it according to the IRS (they state that SMART is paying us in the weirdest way possible to avoid taxes on their end). If you report the internship support payments (ISP's) separate from all of your other stipends, you run the risk of not being able to prove to the IRS that it was claimed correctly due to the 1099 Misc provided.

[samk117]

Thanks! Too bad they couldn't cut corners to make us pay less instead :/