Thank you for this info!
First, re 2018, even though all the wages were paid back in gross (22500 for 2018), taxes were withheld from the original payments, so we only received the net payments, totaling approximately 19,044. So we actually had to pay back more than we received. What happens to the withheld taxes for 2018?
In my original question I used "I" but this is actually my spouse's contract. He is in training, finishing in June 2019. He was recruited by the company in late 2016, and signed the contract with the plan to work for the company once done with training. This was our plan throughout 2017 and into late 2018. Because of personal changes in our family, and some changes at the company, it became clear that the job was no longer going to be the right fit come mid-2019. We came to this conclusion in August 2018 and terminated the contract in September (after taking a few weeks to find a way to pay back the stipend). We then paid back the stipend to fulfill the contract obligations, and started the search for a new job that he could start in mid-2019. I think this would qualify as believing we had an unrestricted right to the payment, because up until about the last month before terminating, he planned to fulfill the contract and so expected to keep the bonus stipend. Is that correct?
