Where in turbotax should I enter graduate fellowship income? University didn't issue a 1099-MISC/W-2, and 1098-T only includes fellowship used for tuition.

[emprice99]

Thanks for the confirmation. Unfortunately I mistakenly entered it into Miscellaneous income in addition to the Education: Expenses and Scholarships section, and now I can't delete it from the misc section, so it is counting that income twice. When I go to edit/add in the misc section I can't see any way to remove it. Is there any possibility of getting rid of that entry without having to clear the entire form and redo it?

[ThomasM125]

You may be able to delete the Other Income form if you only made that one entry on it.

A simple way to delete forms in TurboTax online is to use the Tax Tools menu option, which is on your left menu bar when you are working in your program. Then, choose Tools and then Delete a form. Look for a worksheet called Other Income and delete it.

If you are working in the download TurboTax program, use the Forms Mode on your menu bar to bring up the form you want to delete, then choose the Delete Form option at the bottom of the form.

@emprice99

[emprice99]

I did delete the other income form, but that didn't fix the problem. I had to go back to revisit misc income and then begin to enter a new line of misc income before I was able to see the line of income I'd mistakenly entered and delete it. This wasn't intuitive or clear at all, and it appears I'm not the only one with this problem with the misc income section. I hope TT makes it clearer!

[KrisD15]

If the excess scholarship was entered in the Education Section under Deductions & Credits, that's where you would need to go in order to edit the entry. 

[et1202]

I have a similar situation where my university informed me that my graduate fellowship was taxable, but the university doesn't issue any tax documents related to the fellowship itself (e.g. no W-2, etc.). 

I am still confused about how to enter into TurboTax. I tried entering into the Deductions and Credits section (the fellowship amount is listed on my 1098-T), but then when I got to the State return it looks like TurboTax populated the fellowship amount as a non-taxable scholarship in my State information, so I am unclear if  by entering the amount into Deductions and Credits that it will be seen as taxable income (which according to my university it should be). 

Can anyone help me to make sure I'm doing this correctly? Should I also add it as Less Common Income in the wages and income section to make sure it's taxed?

Sorry, I am so confused on how to enter this into TurboTax's system!

[Hal_Al]

You say "the university doesn't issue any tax documents related to the fellowship itself (e.g. no W-2, etc.)" then you say  "the fellowship amount is listed on my 1098-T".   If it's in box 5 of the 1098-T, that is a reporting tax document and that is how it is entered in TurboTax (TT).  When TT sees that there is no offsetting tuition (in box 1), it will treat the box 5 amount as scholarship.  It will show on line 1 of form 1040 with the notation SCH to the left. Anything on line 1 of the federal 1040 transfers to state.

What is your state?  Most states tax scholarship (if the feds do), but some allow a deduction.  You say " it looks like TurboTax populated the fellowship amount as a non-taxable scholarship in my State information".  Where is that showing up.  

[et1202]

Thanks for your quick response and follow-up questions! 

Re: 1098-T thank you for this input. On my 1098-T there is a tuition amount listed in box 1, so would this impact how the fellowship money listed in box 5 is treated by TurboTax? The money issued for the fellowship was used by me to pay for tuition, but the department that awarded it to me explicitly stated that the fellowship was taxable and I needed to report it as such on my taxes.

The state is Minnesota. Again, the department that awarded me the fellowship stated that it was taxable at the federal and state level. 

Below is a screenshot of where TT is auto-populating (in the state return section) a field (see red box/arrow) dedicated for non-taxable scholarships, however the fellowship money shouldn't be populating there since it was taxable. Not sure why TT is assuming it's non-taxable on the state return-- therefore I have been concerned that TT is also processing it as non-taxable on the federal after I entered the data in the 1098-T form screen there. 

Any input on this would be helpful! I want to get this right and make sure TT is viewing this as taxable so it doesn't cause me issues later.

[Hal_Al]

Q. The department that awarded it to me explicitly stated that the fellowship was taxable and I needed to report it as such on my taxes.

A. Essentially you have a "loop hole". Scholarship is scholarship and as long as there are sufficient qualifying expenses, the scholarship is tax free, whether the expenses were actually paid by that specific scholarship or not.  But, if that makes you uncomfortable, do this: you will be asked if any of the scholarship was used for room and board. Answer yes and enter the taxable amount. Note the wording at that screen “or other expenses”. You didn’t have to literally use the scholarship for R&B. That's just the step needed, in TT, to make it taxable. 

I'm not familiar with MN rules or software.  But, my state (OH) has a similar rule and the TT Ohio software asks how much is not taxable. It prepopulates that box.  So, if the amount isn't right, you have to change it. 

 

[Opus 17]

@Hal_Al 

@andrewpdupuis 

We may want to clarify here.  @andrewpdupuis originally said this was a "graduate fellowship."  In many cases (especially STEM fields), the graduate student receives a tuition waiver plus a stipend.  In that case, as far as I know, the entire stipend is taxable income.  Does that change your answer?  (I haven't practiced with this section of the program recently.)

[Hal_Al]

@Opus 17 Not really, Scholarship is scholarship and box 5 is box 5. 

But, again, the poster has the option of making it taxable (I wouldn't).