Hello,
I am a graduate student at a large academic institution, and have been receiving a scholarship for the last few years. Generally, this scholarship is 'room and board' and so I treat it as income reported under 'uncommon income', and non-qualifying scholarships. My question is not on this scholarship.
This year, I received a large sum of money for conducting research towards my degree. These funds are for the purpose of writing my dissertation. They are not used for room and board, food, or travel. Instead, I use them for activities such as buying data, supplies, to pay for research assistants, and make other research expenses (conference registration fees, etc). I need to maintain a list of such expenditures, and submit them to the foundation supporting my research at the end. I am not required to provide a specific report, but the funds are made to allow me to finish and publish my dissertation and academic work.
There is no 'syllabus' for this, and other graduate students have fewer / more expenses. So I am not sure if these are 'qualifying' expenses...
Importantly, these aren't compensation for teaching/research as a graduate student (that's the scholarship I first mentioned).
I did not receive a 1099-NEC, or any other tax form. If it were a business, I could easily deduct all the expenses and have no income left over. Whatever I will end up not using, I will have to return at the end.
This is a big amount of money relative to my income (grad student...), and so leaves me with a significant tax obligation.
Any help on how this should be reported and if I can treat this not as income. It seems crazy to me that I should pay taxes for what I spend on others' salaries, or have to pay back...
