I have read through some of the other threads and could use some clarification: my son has taxable scholarships worth about $11,000 (amount over and above billed tuition). Is this considered earned income for tax purposes? I suspect the answer is no, since he didn’t have to do anything to receive it other than show up. If it is unearned income, he is subject to the additional “kiddie tax.” Is that correct? When I report it as unearned income in the on-line tax software that we use his tax increases by about $400, presumably since he has to pay taxes at my rate due to the kiddie tax provision.
Taxable scholarships are considered earned income for the purpose of determining filing requirements, but they are also considered unearned income for the purpose of the kiddie tax.
https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc421.html
Yes, taxable scholarships are taxable income. It is considered earned income for purpose of figuring standard deduction and requirement to file a return. But unearned income for purpose of figuring kiddie tax and requiring form 8615.
To figure the amount that is taxable you add up all tuition, fees and books, then subtract all scholarships and grants.
So in your case if $11,000 is the amount over tuition then the taxable amount might be lower if you subtract fees and books as well.
The taxable scholarship amount is reported on the wages, salaries, tips line with SCH and $ amount listed to left of the line (see above link)
The good thing is that your S has a standard deduction of up to $6300 so not all of the taxable scholarship will be used to figure kiddie tax.
It might be advantageous to have student include more of the scholarship as taxable so you have some of the tuition/fees/books (QEE) amount left to claim an AOTC American Opportunity tax credit on parent return.
You will have to check if that makes sense in your situation.
For example my D has a scholarship that covers tuition. The taxable amount of her scholarship after deducting fees and books would have been $3000, but she reported $4000 as taxable on her return and we were able to claim $1000 for fees and book expenses for a $1000 AOTC. That more than made up for the additional tax she had to pay.
You might also want to check with your state or the state the school he attends is in if OOS to see if the scholarship is taxable.
The scholarship covering qualified education expenses (QEE) like tuition, fees, books is tax free, scholarship covering room and board and other expenses is taxable.
Not all required fees are QEE. Refer to the your 1098-T and IRS Pub 970 to determine what fees are allowed. At our school, $300 of the required fees were not allowed to be claim as QEE.
@noname87, yes you are correct. I did not want to add too much information at once.
We also had some fees that the school charged as mandatory and did not qualify for QEE, namely transportation and health fees.
Yes, reading Publication 970 is important.
A related question - how much does the taxable scholarship income affect financial aid eligibility in subsequent years? A zero EFC could result in a sizable taxable portion of grants, which would then affect the EFC for the next year, even if parent income and assets do no change?
https://fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1617/help/faadef37a.htm
There is a question on the FAFSA, 44d that asks for amount of taxable scholarships or grants included in AGI (reported on student tax return). That’s where you enter that amount and it gets subtracted from student income.
The question is in parent and student section of FAFSA so you need to make sure to list it in student section.
Also if a student has auto zero EFC because of parent income, assets and student income would not be considered
I was under the impression that books were not a qualifying expense unless they were required to enroll? Also, I don’t know that I could claim AOTC since we did not pay for anything. I understand the concept and have used it in the past for myself - claiming Pell and SEOG grants as taxable income used to pay living expenses while I paid qualifying expenses out-of-pocket.
In my son’s case, all expenses were covered by scholarships/grants and he was issued a refund check. He did have to buy books and other incidentals prior to the start of the semester and before the refund was issued. The $11,000 figure is the difference between scholarship money and qualifying expenses as listed on his 1098.
^of course this applies only to FAFSA calculation, a profile school can use their own formula.
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch02.html#en_US_2015_publink1000204337
Read publication 970 for more detailed information.
There are other education credits and some have different rules.
I think your $400 on the $11000 is about right My daughter’s situation is about the same.
If you use TurboTax or similar software, it asks the questions about what the non QEE expenses are, the parents tax info, and fills it all in using the first $2000 at the child’s rate and the remainder at the parents’ rate
All textbooks and other course materials are qualified expenses in most circumstances if the instructor says they are needed for the course. The one exception I know of is the Lifetime Learning Credit, which says this about Related Expenses:
Related expenses. Student activity fees and expenses for course-related books, supplies, and equipment are included in qualified education expenses only if the fees and expenses must be paid to the institution for enrollment or attendance.
@greeninohio If you can claim your son as your dependent, you can potentially claim the AOTC. He has to pay taxes on any money used to claim AOTC. The payments for QEE are deemed paid by you and you claim the AOTC.
The 1098 is just a starting point in determining QQE since different credits and 529 plan distributions all have different rules. You want to add in those books even if bought off campus. And it doesn’t matter that the 1098 and/or billing statements show that tuition was paid in full by grants, you can still juggle funds and act like a certain portion was paid out of pocket to qualify for the AOTC.
Do a Google search for Treasury Fact Sheet AOTC. It could be worth several thousand dollars to you.
@BelknapPoint I’m intrigued by your comment about books. Columbia University did not include them in QEE and when we queried this, they said that the books were required reading but the purchase of books was not required as all were available via the library. The amount in question is admittedly small ($1200) but they gave us a different interpretation of the IRS regulations.
The school may not include the books on the 1098t (probably won’t) but Pub 970 is clear that you can include them for the AOTC if the book is required for course work. If you are looking at the other credits, some do require the books be purchased through the school.
I doubt that you will find a college FA or finance office employee who will “interpret” IRS regulations for you. The college will not include books in QEE (on the 1098-T) because they don’t know how much the student spent on books. The 1098-T only includes QEE that are direct billed costs. As I mentioned, except for the Lifetime Learning Credit, books and other required supplies purchased from sources other than the college are QEE. Of this there is no doubt.
I do not know how people think that Taxable Income means Earned Income, because this is not always the case. THe EIC does not consider earned or taxable scholarships as earned income. I am disputing this concept in my state local and federal tax conversations with state and fed officials because of the scholarship was earned, and mine was, then it should be considered earned income to be used in the EIC calculations. If I am paying taxes on a scholarship and I worked to earn it, not being gifted the scholarship based on grades or need but actually doing work for it, then it should be considered for EIC as it is then earned income.
But right now, earned income is your wages/ tips/ pay minus any benefits given to you like SSI, or other benefits on top of your salary/ tips. And this includes all taxable scholarships so right now it is not considered earned income for the EIC calculations.
All earned scholarships, those you work for vs. earn based on need and or grade point average are considered Taxable Income and need to be placed in your W-2 or Wages field on the 1040 return (the one that specifies wages, tips, other income), even if the scholarship is not in a W-2.
This is what I know right now. If you have information to counter this please advise/ educate me.