@shanesnh , all the amounts received from your employer ( whether as wages , cash stipend, in-kind benefits etc. ) has to be accounted and taxed somewhere.
In your particular situation , your housing expenses that you are trying toto exclude , includes FMV of the housing provided, amounts that you incurred directly -- with NO employer participation and any cash / re-imbursements provided by your employer for housing purposes. Thus your housing expenses include rent paid by the employer on your behalf AND cash that the employer provided to you for purposes of housing purposes --- even though as you commented , you did not spend all that in housing ( it is simpler to include this as part of housing or you have add the non-spent amount as part of your wages .
Does this make sense ? For reference take a look at the instructions for form 2555 at www.irs/gov and of course Pub 54.
Is there more I can do for you ?
