[Bgsa] Graduate Fellowship tax questions

[Andrew Stoehr]

On Thursday, March 31, 2005, at 10:41  AM, CurtAdams at aol.com wrote:

> Officially stuff you spend for directly school-related stuff is not 
> taxable and everything else is.  I deducted my computer anyway.
>
>

I'd been told in the past by some tax preparers that certain things are 
deductible.  For example, books are if they are required for a class, 
but not deductible if they are simply books you've purchased for your 
own education.

Greg's response:

"Its likely that you received a 1098-T form, no?  I've never figured 
out what the hell good the form is good for until this year.  Stephanie 
and I used the H&R Block computer program to do our taxes, available at 
Target, I think.  Anyway, I finally read up on it, and it turns out 
they only want to know what was spent on your education, not what you 
collected as income.  In other words, you don't have to report any 
income from the fellowship, only what your fellowship paid out on your 
behalf in fees, tuition, etc.  Sounds shady, I know, but after 3 yrs of 
being confused, I've concluded this is the legal, correct way to use 
that 1098-T form."


Hmm.  I thought it was basically the other way around.  I thought that 
what the university paid on your behalf was not taxable, but the rest 
(your "income") was.  On the other hand, I was told by somebody here 
once that what the University pays for your health insurance was 
taxable, and that figure isn't even available on the 1098-T form!!

I think I like Linda Scott's advice best.  At least I know what it 
means.


Andrew M. Stoehr
Department of Biology
University of California
Riverside, CA 92521

andrew.stoehr at email.ucr.edu

951-827-7023
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