Q. If I weren't using a computer program, I would report this 1099 MISC under "other income" (Line 1h of the 1040). How would that be wrong?
A. I don't know. Line 1h of form 1040 is relatively new (2022). There's been very little discussion in this forum. Nor have I read anything about how the IRS is reacting to income reported there. The 1040 instructions show some items (odd stuff) that should go there. See pages 24-25 at https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf.
I would think the main concern is that most earned income is compensation and social security and Medicare tax should also be paid (like your triplet who got a W-2 for similar work).
Thanks for the Cornell law references. I've found them to be an excellent source on taxes, in general. I find that their definition of "qualified scholarship", for our purposes, only means tax free scholarship. Money provided for other academic needs (e.g. room & board) can still be a "scholarship", just a taxable one, rather than tax free ("qualified scholarship"). See page 5 of pub 970 (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf) for definition of scholarship or fellowship grants.
