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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?

 
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2 Replies
DianeW777
Expert Alumni

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?

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.

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:

  1. the tax liability actually charged by the nonresident state, OR
  2. 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.

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Hal_Al
Level 15

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?

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

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