If your tuition waiver qualifies, you do not have to report it as income on your tax return. A tuition reduction is qualified only if you receive it from, and use it at, an eligible educational institution. The rules for determining if a tuition reduction is qualified, and therefore tax free, are different if the education provided is below the graduate level or is graduate education:
Education Below the Graduate Level
If you receive a tuition reduction for education below the graduate level (including primary, secondary, or high school), it is a qualified tuition reduction, and therefore tax free, only if your relationship to the educational institution providing the benefit is described below.
You are an employee of the eligible educational institution.
You were an employee of the eligible educational institution, but you retired or left on disability.
You are a widow or widower of an individual who died while an employee of the eligible educational institution or who retired or left on disability.
You are the dependent child or spouse of an individual described in (1) through (3) above.
A tuition reduction you receive for graduate education is qualified, and therefore tax free, if both of the following requirements are met.
You must include in income any other tuition reductions for graduate education that you receive.
