topic My son is a resident of illinois but attends grad school in Massachusetts. Is the scholarship he received income for Mass? Do I need to do a Massachusetts return? in State tax filing

My son is a resident of illinois but attends grad school in Massachusetts. Is the scholarship he received income for Mass? Do I need to do a Massachusetts return?

alextaxes-2022 — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 10:50:02 GMT

Re: My son is a resident of illinois but attends grad school in Massachusetts. Is the scholarship...

DianeW777 — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 23:02:00 GMT

It depends. If your son received taxable scholarship income for his graduate work in Massachusetts (MA) then the same portion that is taxable on the federal appears to be taxable to MA as well.

Are scholarships taxable in Massachusetts?

Scholarship that is used for tuition is not taxable, but scholarship that is used for living expenses is taxable. Expenses that are considered tuition include all tuition and fees required for enrollment, books, fees, supplies, and equipment for courses of instruction.

Tax FAQs | University Student Financial Services

As a resident of Illinois (IL) your son may be entitled to the credit for taxes paid to another state. The credit for taxes paid to another state on the same income is used on your resident state because they do not want you to pay taxes twice on the same income. As the resident state all worldwide income must be included.

The credit for tax paid to another state on the same income will be the lesser of:

the tax liability actually charged by the nonresident state, OR
the tax liability that would have been charged by your resident state

If you don't have tax in one of the states, then there is not going to be a credit for that state.

Review the link below if you have questions about a particular state. You can also add any question here as you start to prepare your state returns.

How do I contact my State Department of Revenue?

Re: My son is a resident of illinois but attends grad school in Massachusetts. Is the scholarship he received income for Mass? Do I need to do a Massachusetts return?

Hal_Al — Sat, 24 Feb 2024 23:13:45 GMT

Q. Is the scholarship he received income for Mass?

A. No, unless he performed some service for the grant.* Taxable scholarship, for a non resident is deemed to be sourced in the student's home state.

Q. Do I need to do a Massachusetts return?

A. No, not based on the scholarship income.

*"Scholarship or fellowship grants not requiring the rendition of services should also not be deemed Massachusetts source income as no trade or business is involved"

Reference: https://sfs.harvard.edu/filing-massachusetts-state-taxes