Stipends and taxation

[Itai]

I hope this is the right place to ask this kind of question: 
Does anyone know how I can estimate how much is left out of the stipend (a.k.a Take-Home Pay)?
I think that my country has a tax treaty with the US (whatever that means)

 

[DRMF]

Well then you'll have to look up that Treaty and see what it says (google "tax treaty US [your country's name] F1 student" or something like that). For instance, the US-China tax treaty says that Chinese nationals studying in the US with <$5,000 annual income are exempt from federal taxation. The Treaty between the US and your country could be something wildly different (these things are negotiated individually between each pair of countries, as I understand it).

You'll also have to figure out your "tax residency" status (which is a separate concept from being a "US citizen/permanent resident/alien"). This is rather easy: if this is your first time studying in the US on a F1 visa, you're likely a "tax non-resident". If I remember correctly, without a tax treaty, income exceeding tuition for F1 tax non-residents is taxed at a flat rate of 14%. If your country has a tax Treaty, that usually means you get taxed less, so you should have >86% of your stipend free to spend after taxes. Again, exactly how much depends on what that specific Treaty says.

Note that most US universities do not withhold taxes for PhD candidates receiving a stipend, so you'll have to budget that yourself, pay quarterly taxes on your own, and remeber to not spend every dollar you receive in the bank account.