Made most of my money from a fellowship in 2018. I would enter this information using a Form 1040, correct? Where can I find the 1040 on TurboTax?

[srpang89]

99% of my 2018 income came from a state fellowship. My funds (as far as I can tell) were never taxed. I never received a 1099. When I'm filing my funds on TurboTax, I entered my fellowship stipend ($36378 over 9 months) under Expenses and Scholarships (Form 1098-T). That money was meant to cover room and board so I entered that as well ($11250 over 9 months). When I go ahead and try to continue through the process, it tells me that TurboTax is not an applicable software for my situation and forwards me to IRS.gov.

Not sure if it matters but I have a small amount of money from a job I was working during 2018 prior to the fellowship as well. I did receive a W-2 for that. And for the first two-thirds of the fellowship I was still a graduate student (part-time).

What did I do wrong? Should I really be filing it with a 1040? If so, where can I find the 1040 on the TurboTax website?

[VolvoGirl]

Not sure about where to enter that stuff but everything you enter on Turbo Tax Online version is filling out the 1040.  You enter your W2 and other income and Turbo Tax puts it on the 1040.

You can preview the 1040 or print the whole return.  To see all the forms you need to pay the fees with a credit card.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/accessing/help/how-do-i-preview-my-turbotax-online-return-before-f...

[xmasbaby0]

"Where can I find the 1040..."

Form 1040 is the tax form that EVERYONE uses to prepare and file a 2018 tax return,  If you prepare a tax return for 2018 it will be on a Form 1040 which you will then either e-file or mail to the IRS.  Since the tax laws changed, there are no more Form 1040EZ or 1040A forms.  Everyone's tax return is on a 1040, so you do not have to look for it.  Your return will automatically be on that form.

[srpang89]

Ah, gotcha. Sorry for the ignorant question. So, I was told that for my fellowship, I can enter my income on the wages, salaries, etc. line but I just need to put "SCH" before the amount since it wasn't reported. I'm assuming I just do that in the main TurboTax section then?

[xmasbaby0]

Let's ask some SuperUsers who know more about education, stipends and scholarships and so forth.

@Carl?  @Hal_Al?

[Carl]

You just need to work it through the Education section under the Deductions & Credits tab. There's a screen (screenshot attached) that clearly asks about fellowships received.

[pk]

@srpang89 , while agreeing with @Carl  , @xmasbaby0 , @VolvoGirl ,  and on reading  through your original post  I just wonder ( and hope you would not mind answering ) ---  (a) are you US citizen/Resident/Resident for tax purposes OR a non-resident alien;  (b) if you are here on a visa  ( what type --F-1 . J-1 or what  );  (c)   does state  fellowship  mean a fellowship  from a US state and if so which state.

[srpang89]

Thanks for all of the replies. This has been immensely helpful. To answer your questions @pk :

1. US citizen
2. N/A
3. California

To clarify, the fellowship was through a state entity that has a partnership with a federal agency. The state entity is associated with a state college so all of my payments were made through that institution. This fellowship was for recent graduate school grads to help assimilate into the professional world by providing them with experiences that they typically would not have received in academia. While some fellows were finishing up grad school (myself included), most were already done by the time they started.

When it came to taxes, the state entity made it very clear that they couldn't give us any advice as to how to file. Since we never received any W-2's, 1099's, etc., it was a huge gray area as to how we should proceed. I know that some of the fellows in my cohort didn't even file their stipend as taxable income. 

[Hal_Al]

The $11,250  is not a scholarship, for tax purposes,  it is a stipend.  Instead of being entered in the education section of TurboTax (TT), it's entered as other income. 

In TurboTax (TT), enter at:
- Federal Taxes tab 

 - Wages & Income

Scroll down to:

-Less Common Income

      -Misc Income, 1099-A, 1099-C

       - On the next screen, choose – Other reportable income  

       - On the next screen, click yes

       - On the next screen, you'll get blanks to enter the amount and a description. It will go on line 21  of Schedule 1,  as "Other Income",  then to line 6 of form 1040. 

The other two thirds should be entered, in the education section.  The amount used for qualified expenses (tuition , fees, books and other course materials) will be tax free.  Any Taxable portion will go on line 1 of form 1040 (with your wages from the other job) with the notation SCH in the margin. 

See a similar question at https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/college-education/discussion/re-taxable-scholarship-with-no-other-...

[srpang89]

Thanks for the reply @Hal_Al. So, I just want to make sure...

If my stipend was $36,000...after the standard deduction of $12,000, I’d have a reportable income of $24,000. $4500 of that went to tuition so my AGI that I would report would be $19,500. And I’d enter this number in the “Other Reportable Income” section in 1099-C, correct?

Just want to make sure I’ve got a handle on this. Is that deduction, right? I had no idea but this but was reading online that the IRS allows for a standard deduction of $12,000 with no qualification.

Thanks for your patience. This is the first time I’ve had to do my taxes without a W-2, 1099, etc.

[VolvoGirl]

You enter the total gross amount 36,000 as other income and Turbo Tax subtracts the Standard Deduction and other credits for you.  If you are filing Single you get a 12,000 Standard Deduction.  If you are Married filing Joint the Standard Deduction is 24,000.   Everyone gets a Standard Deduction unless their Itemized Deductions are more.  If you are a dependent on someone else's return like your parents then your Standard Deduction can be less.

[srpang89]

Thanks for the reply. And I'm assuming TurboTax will also deduct how much I spent on tuition when I enter that in as well?

[srpang89]

Another question, the fellowship set aside a specific amount of money for reimbursement of health insurance and travel (to conferences and workshops). Is that considered taxable?

[srpang89]

Question @Hal_Al, I entered my stipend ($36,378 minus Health Insurance Reimbursement and minus Tuition) as "Other Income" and after the deductions section Turbo Tax gave me the message that "TurboTax Free File Program doesn't cover your tax situation". Any idea what this means? Did I do something wrong? I reported a minor W-2 income amount (~$1,200)  and my stipend. Then progressed through the other income and deduction pages before receiving this error message.

[xmasbaby0]

You tried to use Free File for that much income?

Look at the criteria to use Free File:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/choosing-a-product/help/what-is-the-turbotax-free-file-program/00/...

If you used Free File but you did not qualify to use it, you have to START OVER in a paid version of the software with a different account and user ID.  You CANNOT upgrade from Free File to a paid version of the software.