<p>hey guys since I am starting graduate school this coming Fall I just wondered if graduate students keep the whole of their stipends or do they also get taxed? After that, how much money do they usually end up earning per month?</p>
<p>Stipends do get taxed but the taxes are not withheld from your paycheck nor will you get a W2 or 1099 at the end of the year. You have to calculate your tax burden (the IRS has a chart with tiers of income) and estimate how much you have to pay and then pay quarterly using estimated tax coupons. On the yearly tax form there’s a line for the money you paid using those coupons and you subtract that from your tax owed. If you do it right, you usually don’t have to pay any extra in April. Mind that you have to get the coupons from the federal government. For state, sometimes they’ll send you the coupons and sometimes you have to download them yourself.</p>
<p>Schools will usually offer a seminar on taxes for grad students. Your orientation may also cover this subject.</p>
<p>Most stipends are in the $25,000 to $30,000 range and the federal tax is about 10%. State tax varies, but is lower.</p>
<p>The amount of money you get per month is obviously going to depend on how much your stipend is.</p>
<p>Umm, actually my taxes get withheld from my paychecks along with things like parking fees. At the end of the year I received my W2 reflecting the amount I paid in over the year.</p>
<p>The exact amount you get from your paycheck is determined by many things in addition to your exact salary- whether you are married, if you own a house, if you have children.</p>
<p>@belevitt Do they? That’s exciting. Mine don’t and it’s a hassle but I’m on a post bacc fellowship and the rules may be different for grad school fellowships (RAs, TAs, etc).</p>
<p>And yes, there are many deductibles depending on marriage status, dependents, etc.</p>
<p>I have to pay estimated taxes in my program, too. </p>
<p>For your first year, you will often not need to pay estimated tax if you worked the previous year, as the withheld tax from the first half of the year will cover enough of the estimated tax tax for the first semester of your first year in grad school. That way, you can figure out the estimated tax system in April of your first year and start making payments then.</p>
<p>I had a fellowship funded by NLM and they did not withhold any taxes, however when I was funded as a graduate RA under my PI they only withheld federal taxes (state taxes were never withheld). I did receive W2’s and 1099 from both funding sources. I wouldn’t worry about it so much now, but just pay attention to your pay stub after the first two months of graduate school. You’ll be able to tell if they are withholding taxes or not and act accordingly.</p>