I'm a grad student whos getting a stipend. I got 1098-T form but never paid anything out of my pocket. Do i still need to file this?

[KrisD]

If the stipend was a payment for your services, it would be considered income and it would be  taxable.

Usually, when this is the case, the stipend amount is reported on a W-2.

Since you received a 1098-T from the school, it seems as if the educational institution is treating this as a scholarship or grant. Since you are a grad student, you would be liable for tax on a scholarship as well, unless it was offset by the tuition fees.

1098-T, box 2 shows what the University billed, and box 5 shows the grant amount. If box 5 has an amount that you recognize as the stipend you received, they are treating it as a grant or scholarship.

Enter the information as you would for any other 1098-T.

As long as you were billed more than the "stipend" (box 5) you will have no tax due, but you still need to report it.

If there is a surplus of the "stipend" box 5, because you are a grad student, you may be liable to pay tax on it.

[fionamarie05]

In response to the earlier question. If the amount in box 5 exceeds box 1 (i.e. a full tuition scholarship + stipend), how and where do we report this amount? This stipend was not recorded on my W2

[AnnetteB6]

Enter the Form 1098-T in the education section of your return and the amount shown in box 5 that exceeds box 1 will be reported on your Form 1040 on line 1 with the 'SCH' designation to the side showing it is a taxable scholarship amount.  

Use these steps to go to the education section:

• On the top row of the TurboTax online screen, click on Search (or for CD/downloaded TurboTax locate the search box in the upper right corner)
• This opens a box where you can type in “education” (be sure to enter exactly as shown here) and click the magnifying glass (or for CD/downloaded TurboTax, click Find)
• The search results will give you an option to “Jump to education”
• Click on the blue “Jump to education” link

@fionamarie05