Help with a FAFSA & Profile Correction & student tax return question

Paying for College
1

<p>Okay, I had to fill out the FAFSA & Profile in January because one of son's schools had a January deadline. I was able to complete our parent tax return by then so that wasn't a problem. However son had a paid internship last summer. I knew how much he had made, it was quite below the amount needed for him to have to file an income tax form, so I checked the no, student will not file a tax return. BUT, the company filed a 1099-misc form which I did not know they were going to do and we just got it a few days ago.
Which means that even though the amount is still below the amount on which he'd have to file an income tax return, he'll have to file anyway and complete a Schedule C, which means self employment tax. </p>

<p>I file a Schedule C for myself for contract work that is paid on a 1099 basis so I'm familiar with the form and the deductions I can take. But I'm in a new realm here for son. He was able to stay in an empty house that belonged to a relative in a nearby town, Georgetown, internship was in Austin, so no motel expenses. I know he can't deduct the daily commute to and from the job site, but can he deduct the mileage there and back from our house to Georgetown? Does anyone know? And while he didn't have motel expenses, he did have to buy groceries and ate a few meals out. I know business travel expenses are deductible to a certain extent, but how about for an out of town internship? And he purchased a few reference books (it was a computer programming internship) for some computer language he would be using, but had not worked with before. </p>

<p>Obviously the money from the internship is long gone, so whatever self-employment taxes he'll owe, I'll cover. I know I can do the FAFSA correction online, and I assume that I'll send in a correct profile to the colleges and then instead of filing the student non-filer form, we'll send in a copy of his tax return and explain the change? </p>

<p>I work two jobs and have very little time during the week to hang on the phone to the IRS and of course they do not provide phone support on the weekends (which makes no sense as a bunch of people are bound to work on their taxes on the weekend) and the same with the Profile support, not available except during the week. You'd think they could have a Saturday or two a month open. Anyone have any experience down this line? He's got a few more aid deadlines coming up and I've got to get it figured out. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>I don’t know the answers to your tax questions, but there’s a great moderated Usenet newsgroup online - misc.taxes.moderated - where you can post your question and get responses from tax professionals. If you have a newsgroup reader like Outlook Express, you can use that to access the newsgroup. You can also get there via Google Groups.</p>

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<p>Just because it’s reported on a 1099 doesn’t necessarily mean it’s subject to self employment tax. If it’s a stipend, scholarship or grant, just put it on line 7 as “scholarship income”</p>

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<p>My daughter got a W-2 for a work study, but she still earned under what was required to file taxes, so she didn’t. </p>

<p>Had they withheld taxes, however, she would have filed to get the money back.</p>

<p>I would check the IRS to determine if your child needs to file or not. The presence of a 1099 by itself doesn’t necessitate filing.</p>