Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site cincy.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!eagle!mhuxl!ihnp4!cbosgd!qusavx!cincy!jreuter From: jreuter@cincy.UUCP (Jim Reuter) Newsgroups: net.college,net.taxes Subject: Re: tax status for TA's and RA's Message-ID: <1170@cincy.UUCP> Date: Tue, 7-Feb-84 23:29:03 EST Article-I.D.: cincy.1170 Posted: Tue Feb 7 23:29:03 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 10-Feb-84 01:40:36 EST References: <4965@umcp-cs.UUCP> Organization: U. of Cincinnati ECE Lines: 30 Here at U. of Cincinnati, the tax exempt status of grad. students is entirely up to each department. My department (EE) has chosen to give all full time grad students on assistanceships tax exempt status, whether they are doing funded research, teaching, lab assistance, or whatever. This is partly because assignments change frequently and are chosen somewhat arbitrarily, so this prevents some people from getting screwed because they got the wrong assignment. This is probably also partly because survival on $500-$600 a month BEFORE taxes is rough enough. The German department, which my sister was in, chose to give tax exempt status to nobody, and they paid even less! In EE, each student gets a letter which very generally states that the student is getting paid for REQUIRED activities which PRIMARILY BENEFIT THE STUDENT, etc. A bit fuzzier picture is painted on undergrad co-op income. A few bold students have tried to claim this as tax exempt for the same reasons, some with temporary success (my roommate is being audited for his 1981 return). As far as filling out the tax form, I was instructed to simply not put the untaxable income on the form at all, rather than trying to find a place to subtract it. The IRS can figure out the discrepency between the W-2 and the claimed income with the help of the enclosed letter. The local IRS office has confirmed this, and even done this successfully. Jim Reuter (decvax!cincy!jreuter)