I am a graduate student and I receive a $40k stipend towards living expenses that is not on a W-2 or 1098-T. I have entered this in TurboTax as "Other Scholarships/Fellowships/Grants". TurboTax then asks me if any of my total scholarship income ($40k stipend plus tuition grants) was used for "room and board". What does "room and board" mean? Is it literally just food and lodging expenses, or is it everything that's not a qualified educational expense (tuition, fees, etc)?
My actual expenses for food and lodging total about $16k for the year. I earned about $16k in W-2 wages for the year as well, and I paid $18k in tuition for the year. Can I say that those wages went towards "room and board" and say none of my $40k stipend went towards room and board? Or is it $40k-$18k = $22k went toward room and board?
My gut tells me that my taxable income should be stipend + wages - tuition = $38k, so the former approach seems correct. Is that right?
My thanks.
