steve@rochester.UUCP (Steve Hammond) (02/02/84)
From: Steve Hammond <steve> What do students usually do about reporting graduate stipends to the IRS? I have a W-2 form from summer employment and I just received a form 1099-MISC from the personnel dept here at the University of Rochester. Accompanying this form was a letter attempting to explain that depending on the source of funds and the requirements for the particular degree sought that I may or may not have to pay taxes. I called the lady refrenced by the letter(I always fear explanations of explanations) to ask her to clarify what I was to do. She wasn't much help and said that I should call the IRS and gave me the 800 number. By the way it is 800-424-1040 for questions and they should be able to answer most questions posted here. The long and short of it was that the IRS person could not really help me either. She took down pertinent information and will call me back within five business days. Upon further research I have found that the IRS ruled in 1975 that scholarship treatment "may" be available for stipends paid to grads who are performing research, teaching and like activities where three circumstances are present: 1) the grantee is a candidate for a degree 2) the grantee performs services that satisfy existing specifically stated requirements for the degree, and 3) equivalent services are required of all candidates. I have thus assumed that I am receiving a tax exempt fellowship and will completely ingnore this on my tax form, using only the W-2 total as my taxable income. I'm sure that I am not alone in this situation and maybe I have saved somebody the time that I spent to find all this out. I had to meet a lot of special circumstances and if you have questions about your circumstances then call the IRS at the above number to be sure. steve hammond uucp: (seismo | allegra)!rochester!steve arpa: steve@rochester