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If you file Form 1040EZ, include the taxable amount of your scholarship or fellowship on line 1. Print "SCH" and any taxable amount not reported on a W-2 form in the space to the right of the words "W-2 form(s)" on line 1
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<p>So what I'm confused about is the SCH part. Let's say I earned $5000 from working which is reported on my W-2, and I got $2000 a year towards my room and board from the scholarships. So my total income is $7000.</p>
<p>Do I put $7000 on line 1 of the tax form and then on the right print "SCH 2000" or do I put $5000 in line 1 and print "SCH 2000". I don't want them to add the SCH amount into the total line 1 amount.</p>
<p>How does everyone here report scholarship income on their 1040EZ?</p>
<p>The total in line 1 should be the total income of $7,000 ($5,000 income plus $2,000 scholarship). Then you write SCH$2000 next to the words W-2 form(s). This is because your W2s will not add up to $7,000 so you are showing that $2000 is from scholarships. They will not add anything more to the total.</p>
<p>So, just to make sure I understand how scholarships need to be reported on your taxes ... I only need to report scholarship if they are used for something other than tuition. I won a handful this past year, but they all went towards my tuition. Although they made a nice dent on my tuition, they far from exceeded the cost of my tuition alone. </p>
<p>Therefore, I am assuming that I do not have to report any on my taxes ... is that correct?</p>
<p>You have to look at scholarships and any need based grants, they are treated the same by the IRS. If scholarships and need based grants did not exceed tuition then they are not taxable income.</p>
<p>Don't forget the flip side. If your grants and scholarships did not meet full tuition then your parents (if they claim you as a dependent) or you (if independent) can now take the Hope or tuition deduction on the balance left.</p>
<p>Thanks again ... yes, I remembered the credit/deduction ... which is why I asked the question (that you already responded to me on) in my other post about who reports the tuition paid. Hopefully, it will help to balance it out a bit for my parents!</p>
<p>One strategy that I think is proper and worked for us last year is the following-</p>
<p>My daughter's need based scholarship was larger than her tuition. She added the scholarship amount above actual tuition plus $2300 to her income tax return. (The University does not differentiate which part of the scholarship goes to tuition and which to room and board, etc.) Part of this income was covered by her standard deduction and the rest was taxed at 10%.
On her parents' return, we took her as a dependent and claimed the $1650 Hope tax credit, based upon a minimum of $2300 parental cost. Actual costs for us were several thousand.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom is the resident expert here. I'd like to know what she thinks. Is this proper? Do I even need to have her add $2300 to her income? Another tax year is here with similar circumstances.</p>
<p>caveat - I am not a tax accountant so check the IRS rules or with your accountant if you have one.</p>
<p>But my opinion - As far as I can tell from the tax rules in IRS970 you can pick and choose the best option for you taxwise when it comes to education tax benefits, as long as you do not 'double dip' - ie use the same expense for more than one tax benefit. As long as a scholarship does not specify that you must use it for tuition (for instance part of my daughter's scholarship is a tuition waiver so we can't elect to use that as anything other than tuition), then you can elect to use it for the expense that works best for you. If you choose to make the entire scholarship 'taxable' by using for, say, room and board, then the tuition and fees paid with loans or parent money is eligible for the Hope tax credit (or Lifetime learning). </p>
<p>I have spreadsheets going to try and figure out the best tax benefit to take. For my son we have done the same as danas - considered his loan money as paying for tuition, made his grant money taxable, then take the Hope credit.</p>
<p>i have a question regarding this, do i need to put the amount of Financial Aid i 'm using to pay room and board as SCH on the 1040EZ tax form? the amount includes pell grant, state need grant/leap, federal supplemental grant, and two other loans. thx</p>
<p>You do not put loans in income. They are loans that you have to pay back - not income. They are not reported in your taxes. You do have to treat grants or scholarships that are used for room and board as income on the 1040EZ. (grants are treated the same as scholarships for tax purposes) You include them on line 7 with income from W2s, but also next to the words "Wages, salaries, tips, etc. Attach Form(s) W-2." you write write SCH and the amount included in the total income that represents taxable scholarships/grants. Make sure you do not include any grants are scholarships that are used for qualified expenses such as tuition & fees and required books (they must be required for everyone doing the class). IRS 970 has a little form you can use to calculate the taxable scholarships/grants
<a href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf</a>
page 6
So if your income from W2s was 3,000 and your taxable scholarships were $2,500 then your total in line 7 would be $5500, and you would write SCH2500 next to 'Attach Form(s) W-2' (presumably because there is no W2 supporting that figure).</p>
<p>swimcatsmom -- What if the scholarships were reported on a 1099? How do I back those out of S's income? (The amount is less than total of tuition, so none of his scholarship funds will be taxable -- it's just that one of the sources 1099'd him for the amount.)</p>
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oh, and what exactly is line 7? because the line 7 on my form is federal income tax withheld,which is clearly not right
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Sorry - I was thinking of 1040A where Line 7 on IRS income, not taxes witheld. On the 1040EZ the income goes on line 1.</p>
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What if the scholarships were reported on a 1099? How do I back those out of S's income? (The amount is less than total of tuition, so none of his scholarship funds will be taxable -- it's just that one of the sources 1099'd him for the amount.)
Today 05:20 PM
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Certain types of income that is reported on a 1099 does not necessarily have to be reported on a tax return. For instance my husband is receiving his fed pension and gets an SSA-1099. That is not taxable income unless he earns over a certain amount in other income so we have to fill out a form calculating what, if any, is taxable. None of it is so we do not show it on our return at all but do keep a copy of the documentation supporting that it is not taxable.</p>
<p>The scholarship would presumable have been reported on a 1099-MISC. I would suggest filling out the little form I linked in post #11 to calculate the taxable part of scholarships and keep that filed, along with copies of school statements etc. with your tax files. Do not report it as income if it was used for qualified expenses.</p>
<p>Adding my usual caveat - I am not a tax accountant so double check this info on the IRS website.</p>
<p>ah, okay, so just to be sure, in your example i would enter the sum amount 5500 for line 1 which is wages,salaries and tips. and write SCH 2500 on the left side of it. So the amount of taxable scholarship still count toward the standard tax deduction on the back of the form, am i understanding this right?</p>
<p>Yes they count toward the standard deduction. They are treated just like any other taxable earned income (as opposed to unearned income which has different deduction levels). </p>
<p>The IRS web site has some freefile options where they link you to free online software such as turbotax. You may find it helpful and you can file online for free.</p>
<p>swimcats -- thanks. Pub 970 says nothig about scholarships reported on 1099-MISC, so I have been trying to find something that points me in the right direction! H tried to load TurboTax this weekend and our CD/DVD drive is dead and the computer is making ghastly death groans, so I think it's time to replace it after XX years...</p>
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If your scholarship or fellowship was reported to the IRS on a W2 or 1099 and you wish to exclude additional required educational expenses (e.g., the university excluded tuition and fees but not required books), exclude the amount of the expenses from the amount reported on line 7 on Form 1040 or Form 1040A and line 1 of Form 1040EZ, and attach an explanatory letter. It is very important to attach such a letter, since the IRS computers will notice the discrepancy between the amounts reported to the IRS and the wages you listed on your return. Failing to attach such a letter will likely cause your return to be audited. (Some people recommend reporting educational expenses as a negative amount on the "Other Income" line, instead of subtracting the expenses from line 7. In either event, you should still attach an explanatory letter.)
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. So I definitely think it should not be reported as income but maybe with a letter attached? </p>
<p>We use turbotax. It is helpful but does not really explain how to arrive at the taxable scholarship figure (at least not in the basic version). It helps to have an understanding of the tax rules even when usinf turbo tax.</p>