<p>I am a dependent student and I have received about $3,500 over my tuition/board/etc. I am not filing taxes because I have not worked and this is below the cutoff. Do I report this money on my FAFSA? If so, where at? Thank you in advance!</p>
<p>Also, is the money for room and board considered excess? I have no idea what is excess and I really don’t want to file a tax return. I don’t think I should.</p>
<p>On the 2013-14 fafsa it was question 43d that asked how much in taxable scholarships/grants were reported to the IRS and included in AGI. It could be a different question for 2014-15. The purpose of the question is to subtract that amount from AGI so you aren’t penalized by it. It may be that since you indicated ‘will not file’ the skip logic didn’t present that question to you. Did you enter that amount for the income question?</p>
<p>Do you realize that room and board aren’t qualified education expenses for the purpose of whether scholarships/grants are taxable? Take your total scholarships/grants received in 2013 and subtract only tuition, mandatory fees and required books and supplies paid for in 2013 to see how much may be taxable.</p>
<p>Edited to add: If you are required to file after figuring this correctly then you have to. It’s not that hard, you can use form 1040EZ and people here can help with that too.</p>
<p>
No you don’t. However, it’s better for you to file your tax return, and then use IRS Data Retrieval Tool to complete your FAFSA. This way, your FAFSA (student portion) will be verified.</p>
<p>
See [Publication</a> 970 (2012), Tax Benefits for Education](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch01.html#en_US_2012_publink1000177987]Publication”>http://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch01.html#en_US_2012_publink1000177987) worksheet 1-1</p>
<p>I’ll disagree with filing even if truly not required to. If selected for verification you just fill out a non-filers form.</p>
<p>Figure out the taxable portion correctly and see what the amount is and if you have to file a return. For the purpose of whether you have to file, taxable scholarships/grants are considered earned income for federal taxes. You also would have to look into state income tax requirements.</p>
<p>So I guess if I have a taxable amount, I need to change my FAFSA to ‘will file’. Could this instead be put onto my parent’s return because I am a dependent?</p>
<p>
You almost there for filing 1040-EZ.
No you can’t</p>
<p>No it can’t be put on your parent’s return. For federal taxes it is considered earned income.</p>
<p>Also, would a financial aid refund go towards this taxable amount if it was used for school expenses? Such as tests, speech and hearing exams, etc.</p>
<p>How much was refunded to you is irrelevant. Use the worksheet 4kidsdad linked to determine the taxable amount. Essentially, to repeat, it’s total scholarships/grants received in 2013 minus tuition, mandatory fees and required books and supplies paid for in 2013. If you explain more about how ‘tests, speech and hearing exams’ might be college expenses perhaps we can offer an opinion.</p>
<p>See pub 970:
Financial aid refund is not necessary your taxable scholarships, as the refund may include any loan refund and the school often deducted non-qualified expenses from your financial aid</p>
<p>When I used the worksheet to figure my taxable amount, I was below the $6,100 deductible. I read here: <a href=“http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p929.pdf[/url]”>http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p929.pdf</a> that if the taxable amount is below $5,950 (I think it’s $6,100 for 2013 according to the 1040EZ), I do not need to file. I know I will need to file next year, but I think this year I don’t need to. I had thought a $3,500 scholarship would be coming to me, but it will not be mailed until today, meaning it wouldn’t go towards the 2013 amount.</p>
<p>Thank you for all your help!!! I’m sure I’ll be back here next year around this time, haha.</p>
<p>Sounds like you have a good grasp. $6100 is the amount for 2013. But did you include those ‘test, speech and hearing exam’ expenses. Without further explanation it doesn’t seem that they would qualify.</p>
<p>
Is it coming from your school?</p>
<p>I did include those, I figured I’d better be safe and count them as taxable.</p>
<p>No, it’s an outside scholarship. It’s from a family in my town.</p>
<p>if your below you don’t need to file. usually kids that don’t work and have taxable income from scholarships don’t file taxes. Google scholarships that are taxable income.</p>