If the assets were used to pay the school bill, then they wouldn’t have to be reported. The income must still be included, of course.
Unless you get Pell grant, the EFC different won’t matter though.
Yes it would be on a 1099. Anything in box 7 is considered self employment.
If it’s institutional EFC, then it will matter for institutional aid.
OP asked two separate questions. Some of you did not seem to realize that. Question #1 (the stipend) has been answered. And BP #17 has now answered question #2 – whether FA in an account is an “asset”. [BP: please see post #4 which indicated that there was a separate question as to the bank account not involving the stipend.] Thanks to all of you – not the least for pointing out that I should never go into a life of financial crime. 
Yup, I saw that. The only question I had was whether or not the internship stipend counted as some sort of school-sponsored financial aid program. Apparently it does not, and instead is classified as taxable self-employment income. Financial aid money in a bank account is obviously an asset, it’s just not a FAFSA reportable asset.
@BelknapPoint : You’ve been very helpful. Thanks.
I’ve found the ? buttons on FAFSA very helpful in knowing what to include in the answer. The one near the assets tell you to exclude savings from FA payments.
@CourtneyThurston - To the best of my knowledge, an internship stipend is not earned income. There is a significant difference between a paid internship (which yields a W-2 form at the end of the year), and an unpaid internship with a stipend for living expenses. The stipend, in the latter case, is not earnings, and it is most definitely not self-employment income (which would trigger a filing requirement for any amount over $400). It is more akin to a gift.
As a gift, the $750 stipend at issue here is taxable income, but it is far below the threshold for filing a tax return, @for79456 doesn’t need to worry about filing a return or paying taxes on it.
For purposes of FAFSA, I would not treat it as earned income. But, since it is not any form of financial aid, it would be counted as part of the student’s assets.
It is taxable. Edit: though OP is below the filing limit IF it doesn’t count as self-employment income. Which depends on what his/her 1099 says. It is also below the FAFSA income protection allowance for students.
Here is a thread on this question. Hopefully it will help OP: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1472313-stipend-and-taxes.html
From Intuit, citing publication 970: “Taxable Fellowship – A payment, typically known as a “stipend”, used for living and incidental expenses such as room and board, travel, equipment, i.e. computer or other expenses that are not required of all students enrolled in courses. These payments are taxable income to the student.”
Edit: more links (that are more focused on work stipends) -
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/138614-are-stipends-tax-free.html
The only other thing I can contribute to this thread is that everyone I know who has received a “stipend” and a 1099 has paid taxes on it.
Good luck OP. It may be worth seeing a professional. I’m retaining a CPA to untangle my internship/scholarship/etc mess.
@CourtneyThurston - Yes, it is taxable income (if the person receiving the stipend meets the filing threshold), but it is not earned income. It is not salary and it is not self-employment income. It is treated as “other income” and reported on 1040 - line 21. And there’s a space on that line where the filer can indicate that it’s a taxable grant/stipend.
See here:
It is, for all intents and purposes, the same as gift income, which would also be reported on line 21.
And, @for79456, I may have been mistaken earlier when I said you’d need to include it in your assets. If the internship was educational (and unpaid), then the stipend would be considered a taxable educational grant, and it would not be included in your assets.
Great. Good news for OP.
Since when is a “gift” taxable as income to the recipient?
The first question in the fafsa asks “How much did you earn from working (wages, salaries, tips, etc.) in 2015”
From what I’m understanding so far, I would list 750 for this question and list whatever I have left of it for the question that was listed in #17.
I did not receive a 1099 form or was told to fill one out at all since then.
Correct.
Alright. That was initially what I wanted to know, but I didn’t know that I had to file taxes as well. That part kind of caught me off guard.
@CourtneyThurston CPA?
@dodgersmom So then I would have to verify and see if it can be considered as an educational grant in order to see if it is to be included in assets or not.
No, that is not correct. The stipend is not “wages, salaries, etc.” So it would not be included as such. It’s not earnings . . . as evidenced by the fact that you did not receive either a W-2 or a 1099.
As for whether or not the money would be included in your assets, perhaps you can tell us something more about the internship. Who was the sponsor? Was it unpaid?
@BelknapPoint - You’re correct - I misspoke. That doesn’t change the fact, however, that the stipend does not get treated as earned income, but is instead listed on line 21 as “other income."
The sponsor was JPL. The internship offered stipends, but it was only limited to a certain amount of people. I wasn’t aware there was one towards the end as I had started a bit late into it. Once it was over, we were given W9’s to fill out and received money a few weeks later. I did not receive a W2 at all during this time.
The check has it listed as “Program Award”
So I don’t list the money under wages, but I do under assets?