<p>My financial aid package covered all of my tuition as well as room and board fees, however I was unaware that I would be taxed on the aid that covers my room and board fees which is about $15,000 total but only 8000 for fall and winter quarter(winter quarter goes into the next year but the fees were paid in December so is this 4000 taxed if not it will only be 4800 for room and board). my parents earned about 32000-35000 this year and live paycheck to paycheck. I will be claimed as a dependent on their tax returns but I will have to file my own? I will be away at school during tax season and am pretty sure I will not be able to afford the round trip train ticket to go back and file taxes with them, (they usually go to H&RBlock which I definitely can't afford anyways). I'm very stressed about this, I can't afford another couple thousand to pay on taxes. I've never filed a tax return before and since I'm claimed as a dependent will I need my parents financial information? When will I be expected to file by? And about how much will I be expected to pay on the amount listed above? </p>
<p>Thank you in advance, any help is appreciated.</p>
<p>Oh and one more question, since some of the money from FAFSA is taxable will it be considered income when I’m filling for my FAFSA for next year?</p>
<p>You will need to file tax form 1040EZ. There is a guideline on the form for students who are claimed as dependents of their parents. The school will provide you with a document that shows how much you received in scholarships/financial aid and how much of that was for qualified expenses - you will need to pay federal (and possibly state and local, depending on where you live and attend college) on the remainder. You can file online through IRS.gov and the site will talk you through the process.</p>
<p>You won’t owe a couple of thousand on taxes… the first $5000 or so is tax free for federal purposes, and you will be in a low tax bracket, so that makes it a few hundred that you will owe. Much less than owing the college the full $15,000 that you are receiving in financial aid, just to put it in perspective.</p>
<p>Thank you Mom2collegekids and KKmama for the breakdown of how the process works, this definitely alleviated some major stress!</p>
<p>I am a California resident and attend a UC. As far as my aid award:
Cost of attendance: 34177
Tuition 12192
campus fees 1554
health care 2414 (since I receive medicaid i could’t waive this)
room and board 14115
personal expenses 1479
transpiration 853
Books 1444
loan fee 126</p>
<p>Aid Breakdown:
I worked last summer and earned $1836, $1702 after taxes
the rest of the aid has to be divided by 2/3 because I haven’t received the last 1/3
Federal Direct Stafford Loan - Subsidized $3500 (2310)
Federal Direct Stafford Loan - Unsubsidized $2000 (1320)
Federal Perkins Loan $2300 (1534)
Agency Scholarship $500 (all)
Cal Grant A $12192 (8128)
Federal Pell Grant $3995 (2664)
UC New Freshman Scholarship $1500 (1000)
UC Grant $5066 (3377)</p>
<p>20,833 received so far (excluding summer earnings)</p>
<p>Oh I forgot I was offered 2000 in work study but I didn’t use it for fall quarter and instead reduced my work study eligibility to 1500 and cashed in a academic scholarship for 500 that I won.</p>
<p>Just wait until you get the document from your school. Use that plus the W-2 you will get from your summer earnings to file your tax form. 1040EZ is very simple.</p>
<p>You can do everything online so you do not need to use any company to file this for you. It is good to start out understanding how to do your own taxes. You can look online at the form now if you want. You aren’t going to owe very much and you will have a better idea what to expect for next year, when you will have a full year of aid.</p>
<p>Rather than take 2/3 of your award and the amount paid for R&B, you should look at the actual bills from the school and add up the free-money aid that was applied to your account in 2013. That would not include the loans, just the amount applied in 2013 from the last 5 items you listed. Add in the $500 outside scholarship. From that number subtract what you were billed in 2013 for tuition, mandatory fees and what you paid for required books and supplies. Add to that your summer gross earnings and any work-study gross earnings you received in 2013. You should receive a W-2 from those jobs in January. That will be your gross income for your tax return. You won’t be taxed on the first $6100.</p>
<p>You don’t need your parents financial info to file. Fafsa has a question asking how much in taxable scholarships/grants you reported to the IRS for 2013. So that amount won’t be held against you. It also has a question about income from need-based employment programs so put the gross amount of work-study earnings there and it won’t be held against you.</p>
<p>You will need to file by April 15. You will need to check into CA state taxes too. Many schools will have accounting students offer clinics to help other students file their taxes. Check for that.</p>
<p>You may or may not receive a form 1098T in January from the school. If you do it should have the total aid received that the school knows about and the total amount billed by the school for qualified expenses. However, schools are not required to provide a 1098T to students whose scholarships/grants exceed qualified expenses.</p>
<p>Why will she not be taxed on the first $6100? If her parents take her as a dependent, how does she get her own exemption? Is the $6100 a ‘college’ exemption?</p>
<p>Thank you all for all of the information provided here, I really appreciate each and every one of your replies. Looking at the transaction details from the bills I have received I have readjusted my calculations according to the comments above and have found:</p>
<p>I left the reciepts from my books at my dorm and did not subtract the couple hundred for those, and I’m a bit confused about whether or not the first 6100 of the gross income calculated above will be taxed?</p>
<p>What was the nature of the $500 academic award you “cashed in”? Was that included on a bill? If not, it probably has to be included if you received it in 2013. Have you worked work-study winter quarter at all? That gross would have to be added on also. You are looking at owing in the neighborhood of $320-$360 for federal. The $6100 is the standard deduction which is subtracted from gross. You did that part right.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with CA state tax. Some of the treatment could be different than federal. My state treats scholarships/grants as unearned income whereas federal treats it as earned income. Because of that my son gets a smaller state standard deduction and more of the income is taxable for state.</p>
<p>Line 5 is where the standard deduction is entered. Because you can be claimed by someone else as a dependent, you have to go toward the bottom and look at the worksheet for line 5 to find the $6100 number.</p>
<p>@Mom2collegekids, I will definitely look into whether I can subtract the health insurance fee, however, I thought food and a roof over my head was also “required” lol so not going to get my hopes up. But exemptions must be fees that every student must pay, we are required to have health insurance, but not through the school so I’m not sure it would qualify.</p>
<p>@annoyingdad Thank you so much for all the information you have provided it has been a great help to me! The 500 dollar scholarship was from my high school and shows up on the bill. I also already added it to the “free money” section above, I just wanted to simplify everything and I didn’t work (thank goodness), so no work study earnings.</p>
<p>When I file my tax return how long do I have to pay the amount I owe, is there a payment plan? And if tax deductions have already been taken from my summer earnings I won’t have to pay on that amount again? Assuming I filled out my W-4 correctly.</p>
<p>I didn’t want to work my first quarter, which was why I used the scholarship above, but now I only have about 200 left of that money which will likely go towards books so I will definitely need to find a job in January ASAP!</p>
<p>Again thank you all for your responses, especially with it being Christmas!</p>
<p>After you figure out what your tax liability is for the year, you can subtract what you already paid in from your job. The balance will be due on April 15</p>
<p>*I thought food and a roof over my head was also “required” lol *</p>
<p>lol…yes, but it has to be required for you by the school. I’m not sure if required of every student is the key…every student isn’t req’d to buy XXX amount of books or even books period, yet that is considered. And, every student doesn’t have the same fees req’ts.</p>
<p>I would probably try it and see if the IRS kicked it back…lol…but don’t do that. ask.</p>
<p>The IRS is manic about food deductions. There are very specific rules about being able to deduct food for business lunches, while traveling, and moving. When I moved and was deducting my expenses, it was very clear, like EVERY LINE contained a reminder to ‘include no deductions for FOOD!’ The theory is that everyone has to eat, whether you are moving or at work or at school, so it shouldn’t be deducted. Well, I wouldn’t spend nearly as much on food as a school meal plan but the IRS doesn’t buy that argument.</p>
so not going to get my hopes up. But exemptions must be fees that every student must pay, we are required to have health insurance, but not through the school so I’m not sure it would qualify.</p>