Scholarships Tax Free vs. Taxable

<p>My ds received a scholarship for Tuition, turns out that is tax- free.
Scholarships for Housing, books, etc. is taxable. Has that been your experience?</p>

<p>Course related books can be included in the tax-free amount:</p>

<p>[Publication</a> 970 (2012), Tax Benefits for Education](<a href=“Publication 970 (2022), Tax Benefits for Education | Internal Revenue Service”>Publication 970 (2022), Tax Benefits for Education | Internal Revenue Service)</p>

<p>Tuition, fees, and books are tax exempt. Room and board are taxable. This is all discussed in the Financial Aid FAQ at the top of this forum.</p>

<p>Yes, there are threads on this periodically here at CC. Scholarships/grants in excess of tuition, mandatory fees and required books and supplies(QEE) are taxable to the student. IRS publication 970 has all the info about taxable scholarships in Chapter 1:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf[/url]”>http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You can read about the AOC in that pub too. For most families, if the terms of the scholarships allow, it is beneficial to have the student report some additonal amount of scholarships as taxable, pay a little more tax, which allows the parents to claim the AOC.</p>