Taxes for NSF GRFP Fellows?

[newpsyche]

Hi, all!

 

Has anyone dealt with taxes as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow? NSF's FAQ page is completely vague on this topic--I have no idea what is required or how to go about filing taxes.

 

Please help!

[Usmivka]

Go here: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf

Fill out your estimated taxes and file quarterly (deadlines are the third month of each quarter). If that is a hassle, you can pay all at once at the beginning of the year (but lose your interest) or pay all at once at tax time (but are supposed to calculate and pay an additional fine based on late payment).

 

Come tax time, you'll need to fill out a regular 1040 and include the 1099-MISC or 1098 NSF gives you and mark it in the additional income box as "fellowship," or fill out the whole scholarship/fellowship additional forms associated with the 1040 (see Pub 970 below for names and links). You are not self-employed, so ignore anything about self-employment tax and additional forms.

 

Anything not used towards qualified academic expenses (http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p970.pdf) will be taxable--if you are confused about the compensatory/non-compensatory fellowship designation (yours is the latter) read a little more here: It doesn't really change the above.

 

If you have state taxes, you may have to file those quarterly as well, they may be keyed into federal taxes but have different deadlines.

 

EDIT: My advice is based on the experiences of myself and other fellowship recipients I know, but view this as an opinion that you should corroborate by doing your own reading. Only the IRS or a certified tax professional can give you accurate and up to date tax related advice.

Edited January 25, 2014 by Usmivka

[AliceMartins]

Once I have dealt with this tax form and I've found one tool which eased my life cause it has the form itself and, moreover, the form has fillable fields which are required to be filled. So I didn't need to think what should I fill or not. I hope this online IRS form 1099 on  https://1099-misc-form.pdffiller.com/ will be helpful for you as well.