Am I supposed to pay taxes on a college scholarship which pays for tuition only?
Question:
Answer:
Since it was used only for tuition, then you do not need to pay tax on it. And you must be pursuing a degree. If both of those are true, you don't even claim it on your taxes, since it is not taxable income.
"If the student is a degree candidate, then scholarship and fellowship amounts used for tuition and REQUIRED course-related expenses (e.g., fees, books, supplies, and equipment) are exempt from federal income tax and may be excluded from gross income. Amounts used for living expenses (room and board) and other non-required expenses (computers, travel, etc.) are not exempt.
In most circumstances, federal and state educational grants are not taxable. (They are treated as scholarships, and are nontaxable to the extent that they were used for tuition and education-related expenses. Since most federal and state educational grants are restricted to being used for tuition, the usually end up being nontaxable.)
Student loans are also not taxable. If all or part of a student loan is cancelled or forgiven, the amount of debt forgiven may represent taxable income. See IRC section 108(f) for details.
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Assuming no one is claiming you as a dependent, then your scholarship is taxable only if you have left over from paying for school.
It is possible that you forgot to put in Education Expenses so that your entire scholarship become taxable income.
Double check your tax return to make sure your education expenses: tuition, books etc are entered.
If someone is claiming you as a dependent, then it is a bit more complicated. The person claiming you will need to claim your expenses, personal exemption and left over from scholarship on their tax return.
Best wishes.
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